
1 

(1) This Order may be cited
as the Gambia Independence Order 1965.
(2) This Order shall come into
operation immediately before 18th February 1965:Provided that where the Governor-General
has power by or under this Order to make any appointment or make any order
(other than an order under section 4(3)
of this Order relating to any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
or any Order of Her Majesty in Council) or to do any other thing for the purposes
of this Order, that power may be exercised by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief
of the Colony and Protectorate of The Gambia at any time after 4th February
1965 to such extent as may, in his opinion, be necessary or expedient to enable
the Constitution of The Gambia established by this Order and set out in Schedule 3 to this Order to function
as from 18th February 1965.
(3) Save where the context
otherwise requires, expressions used in sections 1 to 15
(inclusive) of this Order have the same meaning as in the said Constitution
and the provisions of section 116
of that Constitution shall apply for the purpose of interpreting those sections
as they apply for the purpose of interpreting that Constitution.
(4) References in Chapter VII of the said Constitution
to any question as to the interpretation of that Constitution shall be construed
as including references to any question as to the interpretation of this Order.

2 
The Orders in Council specified in Schedule 1 to this Order (hereinafter
referred to as “the existing Orders”) are revoked
.
3 
Subject to the provisions of this Order, 
the Constitution set out in Schedule 3
to this Order (hereinafter referred to as “the Constitution”)
 shall come into effect in The Gambia at the commencement of
this Order.
4 

(1) The existing laws shall,
as from the commencement of this Order, be construed with such modifications,
adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as may be necessary to bring them
into conformity with the Gambia Independence Act 1964
and this Order.
(2) Where any matter that falls
to be prescribed or otherwise provided for under the Constitution by Parliament
or by any other authority or person is prescribed or provided for by or under
an existing law (including any amendment to any such law made under this section)
or is otherwise prescribed or provided for immediately before the commencement
of this Order by or under the existing Orders, that prescription or provision
shall, as from the commencement of this Order, have effect (with such modifications,
adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as may be necessary to bring it
into conformity with the Gambia Independence Act 1964
and this Order) as if it had been made under the Constitution by Parliament
or, as the case may require, by the other authority or person.
(3) The Governor-General may
by order made at any time before 18th February 1966 make such amendments to
any existing law as may appear to him to be necessary or expedient for bringing
that law into conformity with the provisions of the Gambia Independence Act
1964 and this Order or otherwise for giving effect or enabling effect to be
given to those provisions.
(4) The provisions of this
section shall be without prejudice to any powers conferred by this Order or
by any other law upon any person or authority to make provision for any matter,
including the amendment or repeal of any existing law.
(5) For the purposes of this
section, the expression “existing law” means 
any Ordinance, law, rule, regulation, order or other instrument made in pursuance
of (or continuing in operation under) the existing Orders, and having effect
as part of the law of The Gambia or of any part thereof immediately before
the commencement of this Order or any Act of the Parliament of the United
Kingdom or Order of Her Majesty in Council so having effect.

5 

(1) Where any office has been
established by or under the existing Orders or any existing law and the Constitution
establishes or provides for the establishment of a similar or an equivalent
office, any person who, immediately before the commencement of this Order,
holds or is acting in the former office shall, so far as is consistent with
the provisions of the Constitution, be deemed as from the commencement of
this Order to have been appointed, elected or otherwise selected to or to
act in the latter office in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution:
Provided that any person who
under the existing Orders or any existing law would have been required to
vacate his office at the expiration of any period or on the attainment of
any age shall vacate his office at the expiration of that period or on the
attainment of that age.
(2) Any person who, by virtue
of this section, is deemed as from the commencement of this Order to have
been appointed, elected or otherwise selected to hold or act in any office
shall also be deemed to have taken and subscribed any necessary oath under
the Constitution.
(3) 
(a) The person who holds
the office of Deputy Governor on 17th February 1965 shall be entitled to the
leave, beginning on 18th February 1965, for which, under the terms of service
applicable to him on 17th February 1965, he is then eligible and to any additional
leave for which he is eligible under the law with respect to pensions benefits
in respect of his service as a public officer, and while on such leave shall
be regarded as still holding an office in the public service:Provided that, if the said
person is charged, as from 18th February 1965, with the performance of special
duties in respect of the government of The Gambia, then—
(i) he shall,
during the period for which he is so charged, be regarded as still holding
an office in the public service; and
(ii) the
leave to which he is entitled under this subsection shall include the leave
for which, under the terms of service aforesaid, he is eligible in respect
of that period and shall begin at the expiration of that period.
(b) In this subsection “pensions
benefits” has the meaning assigned
to that expression in section 112
of the Constitution.
(4) A person who is a member
of the Public Service Commission established by the existing Orders may, notwithstanding
that, by reason of his having held or been nominated for election to any office
before 18th February 1965, he is disqualified to be appointed as a member
of the Public Service Commission established by the Constitution, continue
in office under this section as a member of that Commission and be re-appointed
thereto upon the expiration of his term of office.
(5) The provisions of this
section shall be without prejudice to the provisions of section 6 of this Order.
(6) In this section“existing
law” means such a law as is referred
to in section 4(5)
of this Order.
6 

(1) 
The House of Representatives constituted by the existing Orders (hereinafter
referred to as “the existing House of Representatives”
) shall be the House of Representatives during the period beginning
with the commencement of this Order and ending with the first dissolution
of Parliament thereafter.
(2) The electoral districts
established immediately before the commencement of this Order in pursuance
of section 37(d)
of the Gambia
(Constitution) Order in Council 1962 for the purposes of elections of the elected
members of the existing House of Representatives referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 28(2)
of that Order shall be deemed as from the commencement of this Order and until
other provision is made in that behalf in accordance with this Order to be
the constituencies into which The Gambia is divided in pursuance of section 38 of the Constitution;
and the persons who, immediately before the commencement of this Order, are
the elected members of the existing House of Representatives representing
those electoral districts shall be deemed as from the commencement of this
Order to have been elected to the House of Representatives in accordance with
the provisions of this Order as the elected members representing the respective
constituencies corresponding to those electoral districts and shall hold their
seats in the House of Representatives in accordance with those provisions.

(3) The registers of voters
having effect immediately before the commencement of this Order for the purposes
of elections of the elected members of the existing House of Representatives
referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 28(2)
 of the Gambia (Constitution) Order in Council 1962
shall, as from the commencement of this Order, have effect as if they had
been compiled in pursuance of this Order.
(4) The persons who, immediately
before the commencement of this Order, are the elected members of the existing
House of Representatives referred to in section 28(2)(c)
of the Gambia
(Constitution) Order in Council 1962 and the
persons who, immediately before the commencement of this Order, are the nominated
members of the existing House of Representatives shall, as from the commencement
of this Order, be deemed respectively to have been elected or, as the case
may be, appointed as the Chiefs' representative members and the nominated
members of the House of Representatives in accordance with the provisions
of this Order and shall hold their seats in the House of Representatives in
accordance with those provisions.
(5) The person who, immediately
before the commencement of this Order, is the Speaker of the existing House
of Representatives shall be deemed as from the commencement of this Order
to have been elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in accordance
with the provisions of this Order and shall hold office in accordance with
those provisions.
(6) Until Parliament otherwise
provides, any person who holds or acts in any office the holding of which
would, under the existing Orders, have disqualified him for membership of
the existing House of Representatives shall be disqualified to be nominated
for election as a voting member or appointed as a nominated member of the
House of Representatives as though provision in that behalf had been made
in pursuance of section 35(6)
of the Constitution.
(7) The Standing Orders of
the existing House of Representatives as in force immediately before the commencement
of this Order shall, until it is otherwise provided by the House of Representatives
under section 58(1)
of the Constitution, be the Standing Orders of the House but they shall be
construed with such modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions
as may be necessary to bring them into conformity with this Order.
(8) Subject to the provisions
of sections 60 and 61
of the Constitution, Parliament shall, unless sooner dissolved, stand dissolved
on the date on which the existing House of Representatives would have been
required by the existing Orders to be dissolved.
(9) The Governor-General may,
at any time after the commencement of this Order, appoint a Constituency Boundaries
Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution to review
the boundaries of the constituencies into which The Gambia is divided and
he shall in any event appoint such a Commission for that purpose in time to
enable it to complete such a review and to make any order that may be consequential
thereon before the date specified in subsection (8) of this section.
(10) The Commission that is
appointed in pursuance of subsection (9) of this section shall be deemed to
have been appointed in the circumstances specified in section 38(3)(c) of the Constitution.

(11) Any person who, by virtue
of this section, is deemed as from the commencement of this Order to have
been elected as Speaker or any other member of the House of Representatives
shall be deemed to have taken and subscribed any necessary oath under the
Constitution.
7 

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions
of section 64 of
the Constitution, until Parliament or, subject to the provisions of any Act
of Parliament, the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice
of the Prime Minister, otherwise provides, the office of Attorney-General
shall be a public office.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions
of section 76(1)
of the Constitution, no appointment shall be made to the office of Director
of Public Prosecutions so long as the office of Attorney-General remains a
public office.
(3) So long as the office of
Attorney-General remains a public office subsections (3) and (4) of section
64 of the Constitution shall not have effect
and, subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, the following
provisions of the Constitution shall have effect as if references therein
to the Director of Public Prosecutions were references to the Attorney-General,
that is to say, sections 55, 76
(other than subsection (1)
thereof), 85(5), 106(3)(b), 107, 113(3) and 116(7)(a).

(4) In their application, by
virtue of this section, in relation to the Attorney-General, 
subsections (1) and (2) of section 107 of the
Constitution shall have effect as if references therein to the Public Service
Commission were references to the Prime Minister:Provided that, before tendering
advice to the Governor-General for the purposes of the said subsection (1)
or subsection (2), the Prime Minister shall consult the Public Service Commission.

(5) Until Parliament otherwise
provides, the Attorney-General shall, so long as his office remains a public
office, be an ex officio member of the
House of Representatives but he shall not be entitled to vote therein.
(6) When the office of Attorney-General
ceases to be a public office, the person who immediately prior thereto held
that office shall, for the purposes of any law with respect to pensions benefits
(which expression shall in this section have the meaning attributed to it
in section 112
of the Constitution), be entitled to be treated as if his office had been
abolished.
(7) In relation to the appointment
of any person, at any time before 18th February 1970, in exercise of the powers
conferred by subsection (1) or subsection (2) of
section 107 of the Constitution and in relation
to any person who has been so appointed, the reference in subsection (3) of the said section
107 to a period of seven years shall be construed as if it were a reference
to a period of five years:Provided that this subsection
shall not have effect in relation to the appointment of any person in any
case in which, by virtue of subsection (4) of this section, the said powers
are exercisable by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice
of the Prime Minister, unless the Public Service Commission concurs in its
having effect in relation to that appointment.
8 
The Emergency Powers Orders in Council 1939 to 1964 shall cease to
have effect as part of the law of The Gambia on 18th August 1966 or such earlier
date as Parliament may prescribe:
Provided that sections 6(2)(d) and 8 of the Emergency Powers Order in Council
1939 shall cease to have effect as part of
the law of The Gambia as from the commencement of this Order.
9 

(1) The provisions of this
section shall have effect for the purpose of enabling an officer to whom this
section applies or his personal representatives to appeal against any of the
following decisions, that is to say:—
(a) a decision of the Public
Service Commission to give such concurrence as is required by 
section 113(1) or section 113(2) of the Constitution
in relation to the refusal, withholding, reduction in amount or suspending
of any pensions benefits in respect of such an officer's service as a public
officer;
(b) a decision of any authority
to remove such an officer from office if the consequence of the removal is
that any pensions benefits cannot be granted in respect of the officer's service
as a public officer; or
(c) a decision of any authority
to take some other disciplinary action in relation to such an officer if the
consequence of the action is, or in the opinion of the authority might be,
to reduce the amount of any pensions benefits that may be granted in respect
of the officer's service as a public officer.
(2) Where any such decision
as is referred to in subsection (1) of this section is taken by any authority,
the authority shall cause to be delivered to the officer concerned, or to
his personal representatives, a written notice of that decision stating the
time, not being less than twenty-eight days from the date on which the notice
is delivered, within which he, or his personal representatives, may apply
to the authority for the case to be referred to an Appeals Board.
(3) If application is duly
made within the time stated in the notice, the authority shall notify the
Prime Minister in writing of that application and the Prime Minister shall
thereupon appoint an Appeals Board consisting of—
(a) one member selected
by the Prime Minister;
(b) one member selected
by an association representative of public officers or a professional body,
nominated in either case by the applicant; and
(c) one member selected
by the two other members jointly (or, in default of agreement between those
members, by the Judicial Service Commission) who shall be the Chairman of
the Board.
(4) The Appeals Board shall
enquire into the facts of the case, and for that purpose—
(a) shall, if the applicant
so requests in writing, hear the applicant either in person or by a legal
representative of his choice, according to the terms of the request, and shall
consider any representations that he wishes to make in writing;
(b) may hear any other
person who, in the opinion of the Board, is able to give the Board information
on the case; and
(c) shall have access to,
and shall consider, all documents that were available to the authority concerned
and shall also consider any further document relating to the case that may
be produced by or on behalf of the applicant or the authority.
(5) When the Appeals Board
has completed its consideration of the case, then—
(a) if the decision that
is the subject of the reference to the Board is such a decision as is mentioned
in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this
section, the Board shall advise the Public Service Commission whether the
decision should be affirmed, reversed or modified and the Commission shall
act in accordance with that advice; and
(b) if the decision that
is the subject of the reference to the Board is such a decision as is referred
to in paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, the Board shall
not have power to advise the authority concerned to affirm, reverse or modify
the decision but—
(i) where the officer
has been removed from office the Board may direct that there shall be granted
all or any part of the pensions benefits that, under any law, might have been
granted in respect of his service as a public officer if he had retired voluntarily
at the date of his removal and may direct that any law with respect to pensions
benefits shall in any other respect that the Board may specify have effect
as if he had so retired; and
(ii) where some other
disciplinary action has been taken in relation to the officer the Board may
direct that, on the grant of any pensions benefits under any law in respect
of the officer's service as a public officer, those benefits shall be increased
by such amount or shall be calculated in such manner as the Board may specify
in order to offset all or any part of the reduction in the amount of those
benefits that, in the opinion of the Board, would or might otherwise be a
consequence of the disciplinary action,and any direction given by the Board under this paragraph shall
be complied with notwithstanding the provisions of any other law.
(6) In this section—

 “pensions benefits” has the meaning assigned to that expression in section 112 of the Constitution
; and
 “legal representative”
means a person entitled to practise as a barrister or
as a solicitor in The Gambia.
(7) This section applies to
any officer who is the holder of a pensionable office and who is designated
under the Overseas Service Aid Scheme.
10 

(1) If the Prime Minister
so requests, the authorities having power to make appointments in any branch
of the public service shall consider whether there are more local candidates
suitably qualified for appointment to, or promotion in, that branch than there
are vacancies in that branch that could appropriately be filled by such local
candidates; those authorities, if satisfied that such is the case, shall,
if so requested by the Prime Minister, select officers in that branch to whom
this section applies and whose retirement would, in the opinion of those authorities,
cause vacancies that could appropriately be filled by such suitably qualified
local candidates as are available and fit for appointment and inform the Prime
Minister of the number of officers so selected; if the Prime Minister specifies
a number of officers to be called upon to retire (not exceeding the number
of officers so selected), those authorities shall nominate that number of
officers from among the officers so selected and require them by notice in
writing to retire from the public service; and any officer who is so required
to retire shall retire accordingly.
(2) Any notice given under
subsection (1) of this section requiring any officer to retire from the public
service shall—
(a) in the case of an
officer who, when he receives the notice, is on leave of absence upon the
completion of a tour of duty, specify the date on which he shall so retire
which shall be not earlier than the expiration of six months from the date
when he receives the notice or, if his leave of absence would otherwise expire
later, not earlier than when it would otherwise expire; and
(b) in the case of any
other officer, specify the period, which shall be not less than six months
from the date when he receives the notice, at the expiration of which he shall
proceed upon leave of absence pending retirement:Provided that the officer
may agree to the notice specifying an earlier date or, as the case may be,
a shorter period.
(3) This section applies to
any officer who holds a pensionable office and—
(a) is designated under
the Overseas Service Aid Scheme; or
(b) is an overseas officer
who, after the commencement of this Order, is appointed to any public office
(otherwise than on promotion or transfer from another public office) and who
is notified at the time of his appointment that this section will apply to
him.
(4) In this section “overseas
officer” means an officer in the
public service who is, either individually or as a member of a class, declared
by the appropriate Commission to be an overseas officer, and 
“the appropriate Commission” means
—
(a) in relation
to an officer who can be removed from office by the Judicial Service Commission,
that Commission; and
(b) in any other
case, the Public Service Commission.
11 

(1) Any power that, immediately
before the commencement of this Order, is vested in an existing public service
authority (that is to say, the Governor, acting on the advice of the Public
Service Commission established by the existing Orders, or the Commissioner
of Police) and that, under the existing Orders is then delegated to some other
person or authority shall, as from the commencement of this Order and so far
as is consistent with the provisions of the Constitution, be deemed to have
been delegated to such person or authority in accordance with those provisions.

(2) Any matter that, immediately
before the commencement of this Order, is pending before an existing public
service authority shall, so far as is consistent with the provisions of the
Constitution, be continued before the corresponding public service authority
established by the Constitution, and any matter that, immediately before the
commencement of this Order, is pending before a person or authority to whom
power to deal with that matter has been delegated by an existing public service
authority shall, so far as is consistent with the provisions of the Constitution,
be continued before the person or authority to whom that power was delegated:
Provided that, where the hearing
of a disciplinary proceeding has begun but has not been completed immediately
before the commencement of this Order, the continued hearing shall not be
held before any person unless the hearing that has already taken place was
also held before him; and where, by virtue of this proviso, the hearing cannot
be continued it shall be re-commenced.
12 

(1) All proceedings that,
immediately before the commencement of this Order, are pending before any
court established by or under the existing Orders or by or under any law continuing
in operation under the existing Orders may be continued and concluded after
the commencement of this Order before the corresponding court established
by this Order or by or under an existing law.
(2) Subject to the provisions
of section 13(3)
of this Order, any decision given before the commencement of this Order by
any such court as aforesaid shall, for the purpose of its enforcement or for
the purpose of any appeal therefrom, have effect after the commencement of
this Order as if it were a decision of the corresponding court established
by this Order or by or under an existing law.
(3) In this section “existing
law” means such a law as is referred
to in section 4(5)
of this Order.
13 

(1) Subject to the provisions
of subsection (3) of this section, no appeal shall lie to Her Majesty in Council,
whether as of right or by leave either of Her Majesty in Council or of any
court established for The Gambia, from any decision given in any civil or
criminal matter by any such court.
(2) The Judicial Committee
shall have and exercise the jurisdiction in respect of appeals from the Court
of Appeal and in respect of proceedings concerning judges of the Court of
Appeal and of the Supreme Court that, in the law of The Gambia, is conferred
on the Committee by Chapter VII
of the Constitution, and the provisions of the Judicial Committee Act 1833 and
of any rules made thereunder from time to time shall, in so far as they relate
to the powers of the Committee and the procedure to be adopted with respect
to proceedings before the Committee, apply in relation to proceedings before
the Committee under the said Chapter VII and for that purpose shall be construed
with such modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as may
be necessary by reason of the nature of those proceedings or otherwise to
bring them into conformity with the provisions of this Order.
(3) Any appeal or petition
for special leave to appeal to Her Majesty in Council from a decision given
by the Court of Appeal established by the existing Orders, being an appeal
or a petition that is pending immediately before the commencement of this
Order and—
(a) in the case of an
appeal, is one in which the records have been registered in the Office of
the Privy Council before the commencement of this Order; or
SCHUDULE 1 OF THE ORDER
Section 2


Titles of Orders References
The Gambia Court
of Appeal Order in Council 1961. S.I. 1961/743 (1961 I, p.1542)
The Gambia (Constitution)
Court of Appeal Order in Council 1962. S.I. 1962/826 (1962 I, p.876)
The Gambia (Validation)
Court of Appeal Order in Council 1963. S.I. 1963/1051 (1963 II, p.1811)
The Gambia (Constitution)
Court of Appeal Order in Council 1963. S.I. 1963/1629 (1963 I, p.3034)
The Gambia (Constitution)
Court of Appeal Order in Council 1964. S.I. 1964/1190 (1964 II, p.2766)
SCHUDULE 2 OF THE ORDER
Section 2

SCHEDULE 3 TO THE ORDER
Section 3


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE GAMBIA

CHAPTER I
1 

(1) Every person who, having been born in
The Gambia, is on 17th February 1965 a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies
or a British protected person shall become a citizen of The Gambia on 18th
February 1965:Provided that a person shall not become a citizen of The
Gambia by virtue of this subsection if neither of his parents nor any of his
grandparents was born in The Gambia.
(2) Every person who, on 17th February 1965,
is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies—
(a) having become such a citizen under the 
British Nationality Act 1948 by virtue of his
having been naturalised in The Gambia as a British subject before that Act
came into force; or
(b) having become such a citizen by virtue
of his having been naturalised or registered in The Gambia under that Act,
shall become a citizen of The Gambia on 18th February 1965.
(3) Every person who, having been born outside
The Gambia, is on 17th February 1965 a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies
or a British protected person shall, if his father becomes, or would but for
his death have become, a citizen of The Gambia by virtue of subsection (1)
or subsection (2) of this section, become a citizen of The Gambia on 18th
February 1965.
2 

(1) Any person who, but for the proviso to 
subsection (1) of section 1 of this Constitution,
would be a citizen of The Gambia by virtue of that subsection shall be entitled,
upon making application before the specified date in such manner as may be
prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, to be registered as a citizen
of The Gambia:Provided that a person who has not attained the age of
twenty-one years (other than a woman who is or has been married) may not himself
make an application under this subsection, but an application may be made
on his behalf by his parent or guardian.
(2) Any woman who, on 17th February 1965,
has been married to a person—
(a) who becomes a citizen of The Gambia by
virtue of section of this Constitution; or
(b) who, having died before 18th February
1965, would, but for his death, have become a citizen of The Gambia by virtue
of that sectionbut whose marriage has been terminated by death or dissolution
before 18th February 1965 shall be entitled, upon making application in such
manner as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, to be registered
as a citizen of The Gambia.
(3) Any woman who, on 17th February 1965,
has been married to a person who becomes, or would but for his death have
become, entitled to be registered as a citizen of The Gambia under subsection
(1) of this section but whose marriage has been terminated by death or dissolution
before 18th February 1965 or is so terminated on or after that date but before
18th February 1967 and before that person exercises his right to be registered
as a citizen of The Gambia under subsection (1) of this section, shall be
entitled, upon making application before the specified date in such manner
as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, to be registered as
a citizen of The Gambia.
(4) In this section 
“the specified date” means
—
(a) in relation to a person to whom
subsection (1) of this section refers, 18th February 1967; and
(b) in relation to a woman to whom
subsection (3) of this section refers, 18th February 1967 or the expiration
of a period of two years commencing with the termination of her marriage (whichever
is the later),
 or such later date as may in any particular case be prescribed by
or under an Act of Parliament.
3 
Every person born in The Gambia after 17th February 1965
shall become a citizen of The Gambia at the date of his birth:
Provided that a person shall not become a citizen of The
Gambia by virtue of this section if at the time of his birth—
(a) neither of his parents is a citizen of
The Gambia and his father possesses such immunity from suit and legal process
as is accorded to the envoy of a foreign sovereign power accredited to The
Gambia; or
(b) his father is a citizen of a country
with which The Gambia is at war and the birth occurs in a place then under
occupation by that country.
4 
A person born outside The Gambia after 17th February
1965 shall become a citizen of The Gambia at the date of his birth if, at
that date, his father is a citizen of The Gambia otherwise than by virtue
of this section or section 1(3)
of this Constitution.
5 

Any woman who is married to a citizen of The Gambia or who has been married
to a man who was, during the subsistence of the marriage, a citizen of The
Gambia shall be entitled, upon making application in such manner as may be
prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, to be registered as a citizen
of The Gambia.
6 

(1) Every person who, under this Constitution
or any Act of Parliament, is a citizen of The Gambia or who, under any enactment
for the time being in force in any country to which this section applies,
is a citizen of that country shall, by virtue of that citizenship, have the
status of a Commonwealth citizen.
(2) Every person who is a British subject
without citizenship under the British Nationality
Act 1948, or who continues to be a British
subject under section 2
of that Act, shall, by virtue of that status, have the status of a Commonwealth
citizen.
(3) Save as may be otherwise provided by
Parliament, the countries to which this section applies are the United Kingdom
and Colonies, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Ghana,
Malaysia, Nigeria, the Republic of Cyprus, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Jamaica,
Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Malta, Zambia and Southern Rhodesia.

7 

(1) Parliament may make provision for the
acquisition of citizenship of The Gambia by persons who are not eligible or
who are no longer eligible to become citizens of The Gambia under the provisions
of this Chapter.
(2) Parliament may make provision authorising
the Minister to deprive of his citizenship of The Gambia any person who is
a citizen of The Gambia otherwise than by virtue of 
section 1, section 3 or
section 4 of this Constitution.
(3) Parliament may make provision for the
renunciation by any person of his citizenship of The Gambia.
8 

(1) If the Minister is satisfied that any
citizen of The Gambia has at any time after 17th February 1965 acquired by
registration naturalisation or other voluntary and formal act (other than
marriage) the citizenship of any country other than The Gambia, the Minister
may by order deprive that person of his citizenship.
(2) If the Minister is satisfied that any
citizen of The Gambia has at any time after 17th February 1965 voluntarily
claimed and exercised in a country other than The Gambia any rights available
to him under the law of that country, being rights accorded exclusively to
its citizens, the Minister may by order deprive that person of his citizenship.

9 

(1) Before any order is made under 
section 8 of this Constitution or under a law
made in pursuance of section 7(2)
of this Constitution depriving a person of his citizenship of The Gambia,
the Minister shall give that person notice in writing informing him of the
ground on which the order is proposed to be made and of his right to have
his case referred to a committee of enquiry.
(2) If any person to whom notice is given
applies to have his case referred to a committee of enquiry the Minister shall,
and in any other case the Minister may, refer the case to a committee of enquiry
which he shall appoint for that purpose and which shall consist of a chairman
who shall be selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who are entitled
to practise as a barrister or a solicitor in The Gambia and two other members
who shall be selected by the Minister.
(3) Where any case is referred to a committee
under this section the committee shall hold an enquiry in such manner as the
Minister may direct and submit its report to the Minister; and the Minister
shall have regard to the report in determining whether to make order but shall
not be obliged to act in accordance with recommendation contained in the report.

10 

(1) In this Chapter—
 “British protected person”
 means a person who is a British protected
person for the purposes of the British Nationality
Act 1948; and
 “the Minister”
means the Minister who is for the time being responsible
for matters relating to citizenship of The Gambia.
(2) For the purposes of this Chapter, a person
born aboard a registered ship or aircraft, or aboard an unregistered ship
or aircraft of the Government of any country, shall be deemed to have been
born in the place in place in which the ship or aircraft was registered or,
as the case may be, in that country.
(3) Any reference in this Chapter to the
national status of the father of a person at the time of that person's birth
shall, in relation to a person born after the death of his father, be construed
as a reference to the national status of the father at the time of the father's
death; and where that death occurred before 18th February 1965 and the birth
occurred after 17th February 1965 the national status that the father would
have had if he had died on 18th February 1965 shall be deemed to be his national
status at the time of his death.
CHAPTER II
11 

Whereas every person in The Gambia is entitled to the fundamental rights and
freedoms, that is to say, the right, whatever his race, place of origin, political
opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect for the rights and
freedoms of others and for the public interest, to each and all of the following,
namely—
(a) life, liberty, security of the person
and the protection of the law;
(b) freedom of conscience, of expression
and of assembly and association; and
(c) protection for the privacy of his home
and other property and from deprivation of property without compensation,

the provisions of this Chapter shall have effect for the
purpose of affording protection to those rights and freedoms subject to such
limitations of that protection as are contained in those provisions, being
limitations designed to ensure that the enjoyment of the said rights and freedoms
by any person does not prejudice the rights and freedoms of others or the
public interest.
12 

(1) No person shall be deprived of his life
intentionally save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a
criminal offence under the law of The Gambia of which he has been convicted.

(2) Without prejudice to any liability for
a contravention of any other law with respect to the use of force in such
cases as hereinafter mentioned, a person shall not be regarded as having been
deprived of his life in contravention of this section if he dies as the result
of the use of force to such extent as is reasonably justifiable in the circumstances
of the case—
(a) for the defence of any person from violence
or for the defence of property;
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or
to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;
(c) for the purpose of suppressing a riot,
insurrection or mutiny; or
(d) in order to prevent the commission by
that person of a criminal offence,or if he dies as the result of a lawful act of war.
13 

(1) No person shall be deprived of his personal
liberty save as may be authorized by law in any of the following cases, that
is to say:—
(a) in execution of the sentence or order
of a court, whether established for The Gambia or some other country, in respect
of a criminal offence of which he has been convicted;
(b) in execution of the order of the Supreme
Court or the Court of Appeal punishing him for contempt of that court or of
another court or tribunal;
(c) in execution of the order of a court
made to secure the fulfillment of any obligation imposed on him by law;
(d) for the purpose of bringing him before
a court in execution of the order of a court;
(e) upon reasonable suspicion of his having
committed, or being about to commit, a criminal offence under the law of The
Gambia;
(f) under the order of a court or with the
consent of his parent or guardian, for his education or welfare during any
period ending not later than the date when he attains the age of eighteen
years;
(g) for the purpose of preventing the spread
of an infectious or contagious disease;
(h) in the case of a person who is, or is
reasonably suspected to be of unsound mind, addicted to drugs or alcohol,
or a vagrant, for the purpose of his care or treatment or the protection of
the community;
(i) for the purpose of preventing the unlawful
entry of that person into The Gambia, or for the purpose of effecting the
expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal of that person from The Gambia
or for the purpose of restricting that person while he is being conveyed through
The Gambia in the course of his extradition or removal as a convicted prisoner
from one country to another; or
(j) to such extent as may be necessary in
the execution of a lawful order requiring that person to remain within a specified
area within The Gambia, or prohibiting him from being within such an area,
or to such extent as may be reasonably justifiable for the taking of proceedings
against that person with a view to the making of any such order or relating
to such an order after it has been made, or to such extent as may be reasonably
justifiable for restraining that person during any visit that he is permitted
to make to any part of The Gambia in which, in consequence of any such order,
his presence would otherwise be unlawful.
(2) Any person who is arrested or detained
shall be informed as soon as reasonably practicable, in a language that he
understands, of the reasons for his arrest or detention.
(3) Any person who is arrested or detained—

(a) for the purpose of bringing him before
a court in execution of the order of a court; or
(b) upon reasonable suspicion of his having
committed, or being about to commit, a criminal offence under the law of The
Gambia,and who is not released, shall be brought without undue delay before
a court.
(4) Where any person is brought before a
court in execution of the order of a court in any proceedings or upon suspicion
of his having committed or being about to commit an offence, he shall not
be thereafter further held in custody in connection with those proceedings
or that offence save upon the order of a court.
(5) If any person arrested or detained as
mentioned in subsection (3)(b) of this
section is not tried within a reasonable time, then, without prejudice to
any further proceedings that may be brought against him, he shall be released
either unconditionally or upon reasonable conditions, including in particular
such conditions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears at a
later date for trial or for proceedings preliminary to trial.
(6) Any person who is unlawfully arrested
or detained by any other person shall be entitled to compensation therefor
from that other person or from any other person or authority on whose behalf
that other person was acting.
14 

(1) No person shall be held in slavery or
servitude.
(2) No person shall be required to perform
forced labour.
(3) For the purposes of this section, the
expression “forced labour” does not include—
(a) any
labour required in consequence of the sentence or order of a court;
(b) labour required of any person
while he is lawfully detained that, though not required in consequence of
the sentence or order of a court, is reasonably necessary in the interests
of hygiene or for the maintenance of the place at which he is detained;
(c) any labour required of a member
of a disciplined force in pursuance of his duties as such or, in the case
of a person who has conscientious objections to service as a member of a naval,
military or air force, any labour that that person is required by law to perform
in place of such service;
(d) any labour required during any
period of public emergency or in the event of any other emergency or calamity
that threatens the life and well-being of the community, to the extent that
the requiring of such labour is reasonably justifiable in the circumstances
of any situation arising or existing during that period or as a result of
that other emergency or calamity, for the purpose of dealing with that situation;
or
(e) any labour reasonably required
as part of reasonable and normal communal or other civic obligations.
15 

(1) No person shall be subjected to torture
or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment.
(2) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question authorises the infliction
of any description of punishment that was lawful in The Gambia on 17th February
1965.
16 

(1) No property of any description shall
be compulsorily taken possession of, and no interest in or right over property
of any description shall be compulsorily acquired, except where the following
conditions are satisfied, that is to say:—
(a) the taking of possession or acquisition
is necessary or expedient—
(i) in the interests of defence, public safety,
public order, public morality, public health, town and country planning or
land settlement; or
(ii) in order to secure the development or
utilisation of that or other property for a purpose beneficial to the community;
and
(b) provision is made by a law applicable
to that taking of possession or acquisition for the prompt payment of full
compensation.
(2) Every person having an interest in or
right over property which is compulsorily taken possession of or whose interest
in or right over any property is compulsorily acquired shall have a right
of direct access to the Supreme Court for—
(a) the determination of his interest or
right, the legality of the taking of possession or acquisition of the property,
interest or right and the amount of any compensation to which he is entitled;
and
(b) the purpose of obtaining prompt payment
of that compensation:Provided that if Parliament so provides in relation to
any matter referred to in paragraph (a)
of this subsection the right of access shall be by way of appeal (exercisable
as of right at the instance of the person having the interest in or right
over the property) from a tribunal or authority, other than the Supreme Court,
having jurisdiction under any law to determine that matter.
(3) The Chief Justice may make rules with
respect to the practice and procedure of the Supreme Court or any other tribunal
or authority in relation to the jurisdiction conferred on the Supreme Court
by subsection (2) of this section or exercisable by the other tribunal or
authority for the purposes of that subsection (including rules with respect
to the time within which applications or appeals to the Supreme Court or applications
to the other tribunal or authority may be brought).
(4) No person who is entitled to compensation
under this section shall be prevented from remitting, within a reasonable
time after he has received any amount of that compensation, the whole of that
amount (free from any deduction, charge or tax made or levied in respect of
its remission) to any country of his choice outside The Gambia.
(5) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of subsection (4) of this section to the extent that the law in question authorises—

(a) the attachment, by order of a court,
of any amount of compensation to which a person is entitled in satisfaction
of the judgment of a court or pending the determination of civil proceedings
to which he is a party; or
(b) the imposition of reasonable restrictions
on the manner in which any amount of compensation is to be remitted.
(6) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of subsection (1) of this section—
(a) to the extent that the law in question
makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of any  property,
interest or right—
(i) in satisfaction of any tax, rate or due;

(ii) by way of penalty for breach of the
law, whether under civil process or after conviction of a criminal offence
under the law of The Gambia;
(iii) as an incident of a lease, tenancy,
mortgage, charge, bill of sale, pledge or contract;
(iv) in the execution of judgments or orders
of a court in proceedings for the determination of civil rights or obligations;

(v) in circumstances where it is reasonably
necessary so to do because the property is in a dangerous state or injurious
to the health of human beings, animals or plants;
(vi) in consequence of any law with respect
to the limitation of actions; or
(vii) for so long only as may be necessary
for the purposes of any examination, investigation, trial or inquiry or, in
the case of land, for the purposes of the carrying out thereon of work of
soil conservation or the conservation of other natural resources or work relating
to agricultural development or improvement (being work relating to such development
or improvement that the owner or occupier of the land has been required, and
has without reasonable excuse refused or failed, to carry out),and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the
thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable
in a democratic society; or
(b) to the extent that the law in question
makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of any of the
following property (including an interest in or right over property), that
is to say:—
(i) enemy property;
(ii) property of a deceased person, a person
of unsound mind or a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years,
for the purpose of its administration for the benefit of the persons entitled
to the beneficial interest therein;
(iii) property of a person adjudged bankrupt
or a body corporate in liquidation, for the purpose of its administration
for the benefit of the creditors of the bankrupt or body corporate and, subject
thereto, for the benefit of other persons entitled to the beneficial interest
in the property; or
(iv) property subject to a trust, for the
purpose of vesting the property in persons appointed as trustees under the
instrument creating the trust or by a court or, by order of a court, for the
purpose of giving effect to the trust.
(7) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any Act of Parliament shall be held to be inconsistent with or
in contravention of this section to the extent that the Act in question makes
provision for the compulsory taking of possession of any property, or the
compulsory acquisition of any interest in or right over property, where that
property, interest or right is held by a body corporate established by law
for public purposes in which no monies have been invested other than monies
provided by Parliament.
17 

(1) Except with his own consent, no person
shall be subjected to the search of his person or his property or the entry
by others on his premises.
(2) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision—

(a) that is reasonably required in the interests
of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, town
and country planning, the development and utilisation of mineral resources
or the development or utilisation of any property for a purpose beneficial
to the community;
(b) that is reasonably required for the purpose
of protecting the rights or freedoms of other persons;
(c) that authorises an officer or agent of
the Government of The Gambia, a local government authority or a body corporate
established by law for public purposes to enter on the premises of any person
in order to inspect those premises or anything thereon for the purpose of
any tax, rate or due or in order to carry out work connected with any property
that is lawfully on those premises and that belongs to that Government, authority
or body corporate, as the case may be; or
(d) that authorises, for the purpose of enforcing
the judgment or order of a court in any civil proceedings, the search of any
person or property by order of a court or entry upon any premises by such
order,and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, anything
done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable
in a democratic society.
18 

(1) If any person is charged with a criminal
offence, then, unless the charge is withdrawn, the case shall be afforded
a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court
established by law.
(2) Every person who is charged with a criminal
offence—
(a) shall be presumed to be innocent until
he is proved or has pleaded guilty;
(b) shall be informed as soon as reasonably
practicable, in a language that he understands and in detail, of the nature
of the offence charged;
(c) shall be given adequate time and facilities
for the preparation of his defence;
(d) shall be permitted to defend himself
before the court in person or, at his own expense, by a legal representative
of his own choice;
(e) shall be afforded facilities to examine
in person or by his legal, representative the witnesses called by the prosecution
before the court, and to obtain the attendance and carry out the examination
of witnesses to testify on his behalf before the court on the same conditions
as those applying to witnesses called by the prosecution; and
(f) shall be permitted to have without payment
the assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand the language used
at the trial of the charge,and except with his own consent the trial shall not take place
in his absence unless he so conducts himself as to render the continuance
of the proceedings in his presence impracticable and the court has ordered
him to be removed and the trial to proceed in his absence.
(3) When a person is tried for any criminal
offence, the accused person or any person authorised by him in that behalf
shall, if he so requires and subject to payment of such reasonable fee as
may be prescribed by law, be given within a reasonable time after judgment
a copy for the use of the accused person of any record of the proceedings
made by or on behalf of the court.
(4) No person shall be held to be guilty
of a criminal offence on account of any act or omission that did not, at the
time it took place, constitute such an offence, and no penalty shall be imposed
for any criminal offence that is severer in degree or description than the
maximum penalty that might have been imposed for that offence at the time
when it was committed.
(5) No person who shows that he has been
tried by a competent court for a criminal offence and either convicted or
acquitted shall again be tried for that offence or for any other criminal
offence of which he could have been convicted at the trial for that offence,
save upon the order of a superior court in the course of appeal or review
proceedings relating to the conviction or acquittal.
(6) No person shall be tried for a criminal
offence if he shows that he has been pardoned for that offence.
(7) No person who is tried for a criminal
offence shall be compelled to give evidence at the trial.
(8) Any court or other adjudicating authority
prescribed by law for the determination of the existence or extent of any
civil right or obligation shall be established by law and shall be independent
and impartial; and where proceedings for such a determination are instituted
by any person before such a court or other adjudicating authority, the case
shall be given a fair hearing within a reasonable time.
(9) Except with the agreement of all the
parties thereto, all proceedings of every court and proceedings for the determination
of the existence or extent of any civil right or obligation before any other
adjudicating authority, including the announcement of the decision of the
court or other authority, shall be held in public.
(10) Nothing in subsection (9) of this section
shall prevent the court or other adjudicating authority from excluding from
the proceedings persons other than the parties thereto and their legal representatives
to such extent as the court or other authority—
(a) may by law be empowered to do and may
consider necessary or expedient in circumstances where publicity would prejudice
the interests of justice or in interlocutory proceedings or in the interests
of public morality, the welfare of persons under the age of eighteen years
or the protection of the private lives of persons concerned in the proceedings;
or
(b) may by law be empowered or required to
do in the interests of defence, public safety or public order.
(11) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of—
(a) subsection (2)(
a) of this section to the extent that the law in question imposes
upon any person charged with a criminal offence the burden of proving particular
facts;
(b) subsection (2)(
d) of this section to the extent that the law in question prohibits
legal representation in proceedings against a member of an African race for
an offence committed within the former Protectorate, being proceedings before
a court having jurisdiction only in the former Protectorate or before another
court on appeal from such a court;
(c) subsection (2)(
e) of this section to the extent that the law in question imposes
reasonable conditions that must be satisfied if witnesses called to testify
on behalf of an accused person are to be paid their expenses out of public
funds; or
(d) subsection (5) of this section to the
extent that the law in question authorises a court to try a member of a disciplined
force for a criminal offence notwithstanding any trial and conviction or acquittal
of that member under the disciplinary law of that force, so, however, that
any court so trying such a member and convicting him shall in sentencing him
to any punishment take into account any punishment awarded him under that
disciplinary law.
(12) In the case of any person who is held
in lawful detention the provisions of subsection (1), paragraphs (d) and (e) of
subsection (2) and subsection (3) of this section shall not apply in relation
to his trial for a criminal offence under the law regulating the discipline
of persons held in such detention.
(13) In this section 
“criminal offence” means 
a criminal offence under the law of The Gambia.
19 

(1) Except with his own consent, no person
shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of conscience, including
freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change his religion or belief
and freedom, either alone or in community with others, and both in public
and in private, to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship,
teaching, practice and observance.
(2) Except with his own consent (or, if he
is a minor, the consent of his guardian) no person attending any place of
education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part
in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if that instruction, ceremony
or observance relates to a religion other than his own.
(3) Every religious community shall be entitled,
at its own expense, to establish and maintain places of education and to manage
any place of education which it wholly maintains; and no such community shall
be prevented from providing religious instruction for persons of that community
in the course of any education provided at any places of education which it
wholly maintains or in the course of any education which it otherwise provides.

(4) No person shall be compelled to take
any oath which is contrary to his religion or belief or to take any oath in
a manner which is contrary to his religion or belief.
(5) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision which
is reasonably required—
(a) in the interests of defence, public safety,
public order, public morality or public health; or
(b) for the purpose of protecting the rights
and freedoms of other persons, including the right to observe and practise
any religion without the unsolicited intervention of members of any other
religion,and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the
thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable
in a democratic society.
(6) References in this section to a religion
shall be construed as including references to a religious denomination, and
cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.
20 

(1) Except with his own consent, no person
shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, including
freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and
information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information
without interference (whether the communication be to the public generally
or to any person or class of persons) and freedom from interference with his
correspondence.
(2) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision—

(a) that is reasonably required in the interests
of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health;

(b) that is reasonably required for the purpose
of protecting the reputations, rights and freedoms of other persons or the
private lives of persons concerned in legal proceedings, preventing the disclosure
of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence
of the courts or regulating the technical administration or the technical
operation of telephony, telegraphy, posts, wireless broadcasting or television;
or
(c) that imposes restrictions upon public
officers,and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the
thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable
in a democratic society.
21 

(1) Except with his own consent, no person
shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of assembly and association,
that is to say, his right to assemble freely and associate with other persons
and in particular to form or belong to trade unions or other associations
for the protection of his interests.
(2) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision—

(a) that is reasonably required in the interests
of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health;

(b) that is reasonably required for the purpose
of protecting the rights or freedoms of other persons; or
(c) that imposes restrictions upon public
officers,and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the
thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable
in a democratic society.
22 

(1) No person shall be deprived of his freedom
of movement, that is to say, the right to move freely throughout The Gambia,
the right to reside in any part of The Gambia, the right to enter The Gambia,
the right to leave The Gambia and immunity from expulsion from The Gambia.

(2) Any restriction on a person's freedom
of movement that is involved in his lawful detention shall not be held to
be inconsistent with or in contravention of this section.
(3) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision—

(a) for the imposition of restrictions on
the movement or residence within The Gambia of any person or on any person's
right to leave The Gambia that are reasonably required in the interests of
defence, public safety or public order;
(b) for the imposition of restrictions on
the movement or residence within The Gambia or on the right to leave The Gambia
of persons generally or any class of persons in the interests of defence,
public safety, public order, public morality or public health and except so
far as that provision or, as the case may be, the thing done under the authority
thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society;

(c) for the imposition of restrictions, by
order of a court, on the movement or residence within The Gambia of any person
or on any person's right to leave The Gambia either in consequence of his
having been found guilty of a criminal offence under the law of The Gambia
or for the purpose of ensuring that he appears before a court at a later date
for trial of such a criminal offence or for proceedings preliminary to trial
or for proceedings relating to his extradition or lawful removal from The
Gambia;
(d) for the imposition of restrictions on
the freedom of movement of any person who is not a citizen of The Gambia;

(e) for the imposition of restrictions on
the acquisition or use by any person of land or other property in The Gambia;

(f) for the imposition of restrictions upon
the movement or residence within The Gambia or on the right to leave The Gambia
of any public officer;
(g) for the removal of a person from The
Gambia to be tried or punished in some other country for a criminal offence
under the law of that other country or to undergo imprisonment in some other
country in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence
under the law of The Gambia of which he has been convicted; or
(h) for the imposition of restrictions on
the right of any person to leave The Gambia that are reasonably required in
order to secure the fulfilment of any obligations imposed on that person by
law and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the thing
done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable
in a democratic society.
(4) If any person whose freedom of movement
has been restricted by virtue of such a provision as is referred to in subsection
(3)(a) of this section so requests at any
time during the period of that restriction not earlier than three months after
the order was made or three months after he last made such a request, as the
case may be, his case shall be reviewed by an independent and impartial tribunal
presided over by a person appointed by the Chief Justice from among persons
who are entitled to practise as a barrister or a solicitor in The Gambia.

(5) On any review by a tribunal in pursuance
of subsection (4) of this section of the case of any person whose freedom
of movement has been restricted, the tribunal may make recommendations concerning
the necessity or expediency of the continuation of that restriction to the
authority by whom it was ordered and, unless it is otherwise provided by law,
that authority shall be obliged to act in accordance with any such recommendations.

23 

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsections
(4), (5) and (7) of this section, no law shall make any provision that is
discriminatory either of itself or in its effect.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsections
(6), (7) and (8) of this section, no person shall be treated in a discriminatory
manner by any person acting by virtue of any written law or in the performance
of the functions of any public office or any public authority.
(3) In this section, the expression “discriminatory” means affording different treatment to different persons attributable
wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, tribe, place of
origin, political opinions, colour or creed whereby persons of one such description
are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another
such description are not made subject or are accorded privileges or advantages
which are not accorded to persons of another such description.

(4) Subsection (1) of this section shall
not apply to any law so far as that law makes provision—
(a) for the appropriation of public revenues
or other public funds;
(b) with respect to persons who are not citizens
of The Gambia;
(c) for the application, in the case of persons
of any such description as is mentioned in subsection (3) of this section
(or of persons connected with such persons), of the law with respect to adoption,
marriage, divorce, burial, devolution of property on death or other like matters
which is the personal law of persons of that description;
(d) for the application of customary law
with respect to any matter in the case of persons who, under that law, are
subject to that law; or
(e) whereby persons of any such description
as is mentioned in subsection (3) of this section may be subjected to any
disability or restriction or may be accorded any privilege or advantage which,
having regard to its nature and to special circumstances pertaining to those
persons or to persons of any other such description, is reasonably justifiable
in a democratic society.
(5) Nothing contained in any law shall be
held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (1) of this
section to the extent that it makes provision with respect to standards or
qualifications (not being standards or qualifications specifically relating
to race, tribe, place of origin, political opinions, colour or creed) to be
required of any person who is appointed to or to act in any office in the
public service, any office in a disciplined force, any office in the service
of a local government authority or any office in a body corporate established
by law for public purposes.
(6) Subsection (2) of this section shall
not apply to anything which is expressly or by necessary implication authorised
to be done by any such provision of law as is referred to in subsection (4)
or subsection (5) of this section.
(7) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision whereby
persons of any such description as is mentioned in subsection (3) of this
section may be subjected to any restriction on the rights and freedoms guaranteed
by sections 17, 19, 20, 21 and 22 of this Constitution,
being such a restriction as is authorised by 
section 17(2), section 19(5), 
section 20(2), section 21(2)
or paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section
22(3), as the case may be.
(8) Nothing in subsection (2) of this section
shall affect any discretion relating to the institution, conduct or discontinuance
of civil or criminal proceedings in any court that is vested in any person
by or under this Constitution or any other law.
24 
Nothing contained in or done under
the authority of an Act of Parliament shall be held to be inconsistent with
or in contravention of section 13
or section 23 of this Constitution
to the extent that the Act authorises the taking during any period of public
emergency of measures that are reasonably justifiable for dealing with the
situation that exists in The Gambia during that period.
25 

(1) When a person is detained by virtue of
any such law as is referred to in section 24
 of this Constitution the following provisions
shall apply, that is to say:—
(a) he shall, as soon as reasonably practicable
and in any case not more than seven days after the commencement of his detention,
be furnished with a statement in writing in a language that he understands
specifying in detail the grounds upon which he is detained;
(b) not more than fourteen days after the
commencement of his detention, a notification shall be published in the Official
Gazette stating that he has been detained and giving particulars of the provision
of law under which his detention is authorised;
(c) not more than one month after the commencement
of his detention and thereafter during his detention at intervals of not more
than six months, his case shall be reviewed by an independent and impartial
tribunal established by law and presided over by a person appointed by the
Chief Justice from among persons who are entitled to practise as a barrister
or a solicitor in The Gambia;
(d) he shall be afforded reasonable facilities
to consult a legal representative of his own choice who shall be permitted
to make representations to the tribunal appointed for the review of the case
of the detained person; and
(e) at the hearing of his case by the tribunal
appointed for the review of his case he shall be permitted to appear in person
or by a legal representative of his own choice.
(2) On any review by a tribunal in pursuance
of this section of the case of a detained person, the tribunal may make recommendations
concerning the necessity or expediency of continuing his detention to the
authority by which it was ordered but, unless it is otherwise provided by
law, that authority shall not be obliged to act in accordance with any such
recommendations.
(3) Nothing contained in subsection (1)(d) or subsection (1)(e)
of this section shall be construed as entitling a person to legal representation
at public expense.
26 

(1) If any person alleges that any of the
provisions of sections 11 to 25
 (inclusive) of this Constitution has been,
is being or is likely to be contravened in relation to him (or, in the case
of a person who is detained, if any other person alleges such a contravention
in relation to the detained person), then, without prejudice to any other
action with respect to the same matter which is lawfully available, that person
(or that other person) may apply to the Supreme Court for redress.
(2) The Supreme Court shall have original
jurisdiction—
(a) to hear and determine any application
made by any person in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section; and
(b) to determine any question arising in
the case of any person which is referred to it in pursuance of subsection
(3) of this sectionand may make such orders, issue such writs and give such directions
as it may consider appropriate for the purpose of enforcing or securing the
enforcement of any of the provisions of 
sections 11 to 25 (inclusive) of this Constitution:
Provided that the Supreme Court may decline to exercise
its powers under this subsection if it is satisfied that adequate means of
redress for the contravention alleged are or have been available to the person
concerned under any other law.
(3) If in any proceedings in any subordinate
court any question arises as to the contravention of any of the provisions
of sections 11 to 25
(inclusive) of this Constitution, the person presiding in that court may,
and shall if any party to the proceedings so requests, refer the question
to the Supreme Court unless, in his opinion, the raising of the question is
merely frivolous or vexatious.
(4) Where any question is referred to the
Supreme Court in pursuance of subsection (3) of this section, the Supreme
Court shall give its decision upon the question and the court in which the
question arose shall dispose of the case in accordance with that decision
or, if that decision is the subject of an appeal under 
section 99 of this Constitution to the Court
of Appeal or to the Judicial Committee, in accordance with the decision of
the Court of Appeal or, as the case may be, of the Judicial Committee.
(5) Parliament may confer upon the Supreme
Court such powers in addition to those conferred by this section as may appear
to be necessary or desirable for the purpose of enabling that court more effectively
to exercise the jurisdiction conferred upon it by this section.
(6) The Chief Justice may make rules with
respect to the practice and procedure of the Supreme Court in relation to
the jurisdiction and powers conferred on it by or under this section (including
rules with respect to the time within which applications may be brought and
references shall be made to the Supreme Court).
27 

(1) The Governor-General may, by proclamation
which shall be published in the Official Gazette, declare that a state of
emergency exists for the purposes of this Chapter.
(2) Every declaration of emergency shall
lapse—
(a) in the case of a declaration made when
Parliament is sitting at the expiration of a period of seven days beginning
with the date of publication of the declaration; and
(b) in any other case, at the expiration
of a period of twenty-one days beginning with the date of publication of the
declaration,unless it has in the meantime been approved by a resolution of
the House of Representatives supported by the votes of two-thirds of all the
voting members of the House.
(3) A declaration of emergency may at any
time be revoked by the Governor-General by proclamation which shall be published
in the Official Gazette.
(4) A declaration of emergency that has been
approved by a resolution of the House of Representatives in pursuance of subsection
(2) of this section shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of
this section, remain in force so long as that resolution remains in force
and no longer.
(5) A resolution of the House of Representatives
passed for the purposes of this section shall remain in force for twelve months
of such shorter period as may be specified therein:Provided that any such resolution may be extended from
time to time by a further such resolution supported by the votes of two-thirds
of all the voting members of the House, each extension not exceeding twelve
months from the date of the resolution effecting the extension and any such
resolution may be revoked at any time by a resolution supported by the votes
of a majority of all the voting members of the House.
(6) Any provision of this section that a
declaration of emergency shall lapse or cease to be in force at any particular
time is without prejudice to the making of a further such declaration whether
before or after that time.
(7) The Governor-General may summon the House
of Representatives to meet for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section
notwithstanding that Parliament then stands dissolved, and the persons who
were members of the House of Representatives immediately before the dissolution
shall be deemed, for those purposes, still to be members of that House but,
subject to the provisions of section 43(4)
of this Constitution (which relates to the election of the Speaker of the
House of Representatives), the House shall not, when summoned by virtue of
this subsection, transact any business other than debating and voting upon
a resolution for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section.
28 

(1) In this Chapter, unless the context otherwise
requires—
 “contravention”,
in relation to any requirement, includes a failure to
comply with that requirement, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly
;
 “court”
means any court of law having jurisdiction in The Gambia
other than a court established by a disciplinary law, and includes the Judicial
Committee and in sections 12
and 14 of this Constitution
a court established by a disciplinary law;
 “disciplinary law”
means a law regulating the discipline of any disciplined
force;
 “disciplined force”
means—
(a) a naval,
military or air force;
(b) the Police Force; or
(c) a prison service;
 “legal representative”
 means a person entitled to practise
as a barrister or a solicitor in The Gambia; and
 “member”,
in relation to a disciplined force, includes any person
who, under the law regulating the discipline of that force, is subject to
that discipline.
(2) In this Chapter 
“a period of public emergency” means any period during which—
(a) 
The Gambia is at war; or
(b) a declaration of emergency is
in force under section 27
of this Constitution.
(3) In relation to any person who is a member
of a disciplined force raised under an Act of Parliament, nothing contained
in or done under the authority of the disciplinary law of that force shall
be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of any of the provisions
of this Chapter other than sections 12, 14 and 15 of this Constitution.

(4) In relation to any person who is a member
of a disciplined force raised otherwise than as afore said and lawfully present
in The Gambia, nothing contained in or done under the authority of the disciplinary
law of that force shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of any of the provisions of this Chapter.
CHAPTER III
29 
There shall be a Governor-General who shall be appointed by Her
Majesty and shall hold office during Her Majesty's pleasure and who shall
be Her Majesty's representative in The Gambia.
30 
Whenever the office of Governor-General is
vacant or the holder of the office is absent from The Gambia or is for any
reason unable to exercise the functions conferred upon him by this Constitution,
those functions shall be exercised by such person as Her Majesty may appoint
or, if there is no person in The Gambia so appointed and able to exercise
those functions, by the Chief Justice.
31 
A person appointed to or assuming the functions of the office of
Governor-General shall, before entering upon the duties of that office, take
and subscribe the oath of allegiance and such oath for the due execution of
his office as may be prescribed by Parliament.
CHAPTER IV
PART 1
32 

There shall be a Parliament which shall consist of Her Majesty and a House
of Representatives.
33 

(1) The House of Representatives shall consist
of a Speaker and the following other member, that is to say:—
(a) thirty-two members
who shall be known as “elected members”
 and who shall be elected in accordance with the provisions
of section 36
of this Constitution;
(b) four members who
shall be known as “Chiefs' representative
members” and who shall be elected in accordance with
the provisions of section 39
of this Constitution; and
(c) until Parliament
otherwise provides, two members who shall be known as 
“nominated members” and who shall be appointed
in accordance with the provisions of section
41 of this Constitution.
(2) Only an elected
member or a Chiefs' representative member shall be entitled to vote upon any
question before the House of Representatives and the elected members and the
Chiefs' representative members are in this Constitution collectively referred
to as “voting members”.

(3) A person who is exercising the functions
of the office of Attorney-General by virtue of 
section 64(4) of this Constitution but who
is not otherwise a member of the House of Representatives shall be an 
ex officio member of the House but shall not be entitled to vote therein.

34 
Subject to the provisions of 
section 35 of this Constitution, a person shall
be qualified to be nominated for election as a voting member of the House
of Representatives or to be appointed as a nominated member if, and shall
not be so qualified unless, at the date of his nomination for election or,
as the case may be, at the date of his appointment—
(a) he has attained the age of twenty-one
years;
(b) he can speak English well enough to take
an active part in the proceedings of the House;
(c) in the case of a voting member, he is
a citizen of The Gambia, and
(d) in the case of an elected member, he
is registered in some constituency as a voter in elections of elected members
of the House and is not disqualified from voting in such elections.
35 

(1) No person shall be qualified to be nominated
for election as a voting member of the House of Representatives or to be appointed
as a nominated member if, at the date of his nomination for election or, as
the case may be, at the date of his appointment—
(a) in the case of a voting member, he is,
by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience
or adherence to any foreign power or state;
(b) he holds the office of Speaker;
(c) he is, under any law in force in The
Gambia, adjudged or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind;
(d) he is an undischarged bankrupt, having
been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in The
Gambia;
(e) he is under sentence of death imposed
on him by a court in The Gambia or is under a sentence of imprisonment (by
whatever name called) for a term of or exceeding six months imposed on him
by such a court or substituted by competent authority for some other sentence
imposed on him by such a court; or
(f) subject to such exceptions and limitations
as may be prescribed by Parliament, he has any such interest in any such government
contract as may be so prescribed.
(2) Parliament may provide that a person
shall not be qualified to be nominated for election as a voting member of
the House of Representatives or to be appointed as a nominated member if,
at the date of his nomination for election or, as the case may be, at the
date of his appointment, he holds or is acting in any office that is specified
by Parliament and the functions of which involve responsibility for, or in
connection with, the conduct of any election to the House or the compilation
of any register of voters for the purposes of such an election.
(3) Parliament may provide that a person
who is convicted by any court of any offence that is prescribed by Parliament
and that is connected with the election of members of the House of Representatives
or is reported guilty of such an offence by the court trying an election petition
shall not be qualified, for such period (not exceeding five years) following
his conviction or, as the case may be, following the report of the court as
may be so prescribed, to be nominated for election as a voting member of the
House or to be appointed as a nominated member.
(4) No person shall be qualified to be nominated
for election as an elected member of the House of Representatives who, at
the date of his nomination for election, is, or is nominated for election
as, a Chiefs' representative member; and no person shall be qualified to be
nominated for election as a Chiefs' representative member who, at the date
of his nomination for election, is, or is nominated for election as, an elected
member.
(5) No person shall be qualified to be nominated
for election as a voting member of the House of Representatives who, at the
date of his nomination for election, is a nominated member; and no person
shall be qualified to be appointed as a nominated member who, at the date
of his appointment, is, or is nominated for election as, a voting member or
who has, at any time since Parliament was last dissolved, stood as a candidate
for election as a voting member but was not elected.
(6) Parliament may provide that, subject
to such exceptions and limitations as Parliament may prescribe, a person shall
not be qualified to be nominated for election as a voting member of the House
of Representatives or to be appointed as a nominated member if, at the date
of his nomination for election or, as the case may be, at the date of his
appointment—
(a) he holds or is acting in any office or
appointment that may be prescribed by Parliament;
(b) he is a member of any naval, military
or air force that may be so prescribed; or
(c) he is a member of any police force.
(7) For the purposes of subsection (1)(e) of this section—
(a) two or more terms of imprisonment that
are required to be served consecutively shall be regarded as a single term
of imprisonment for the aggregate period of those terms; and
(b) no account shall be taken of a sentence
of imprisonment imposed as an alternative to or in default of the payment
of a fine.
(8) In subsection (1)(
f) of this section “government
contract” means any contract made
with the Government of The Gambia or with a department of that Government
or with an officer of that Government contracting as such.
36 

(1) The Gambia shall, in accordance with
the provisions of section 38
of this Constitution, be divided into constituencies and each constituency
shall elect one elected member to the House of Representatives in such manner
as may, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, be prescribed by or
under any law.
(2) The election of elected members of the
House of Representatives shall be based upon universal adult suffrage, that
is to say:—
(a) every citizen of The Gambia who has attained
the age of twenty-one years shall, unless he is disqualified by Parliament
from registration as a voter for the purposes of elections of elected members
of the House of Representatives, be entitled to be registered as such a voter
under any law in that behalf, and no other person may be so registered; and

(b) every person who is registered as aforesaid
in any constituency shall, unless he is disqualified by Parliament from voting
in that constituency in any election of elected members of the House of Representatives,
be entitled so to vote, in accordance with the provisions of any law in that
behalf, and no other person may so vote.
(3) In any election of elected members of
the House of Representatives the votes shall be given by ballot in such manner
as not to disclose how any particular person votes.
37 

(1) There shall be a Constituency Boundaries
Commission which shall be appointed by the Governor-General in the circumstances
specified in section 38(3)
of this Constitution and which shall consist of a Chairman and two other members.

(2) The Chairman and the other members of
the Commission shall be appointed by the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission.
(3) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed as a member of the Commission if—
(a) he is, or has at any time during the
five years immediately preceding his appointment been, a member of the House
of Representatives or a member of any House of Representatives established
for The Gambia by Order of Her Majesty in Council before the coming into operation
of this Constitution (other than a nominated or an ex officio
member or a temporary member appointed in place of such a member);
(b) he is, or has at any time during the
said five years been, nominated as a candidate for election as a member of
the House of Representatives or of any such House of Representatives established
as aforesaid;
(c) he is, or has at any time during the
said five years been, the holder of an office in any political organisation
that sponsors or otherwise supports, or that has at any time sponsored or
otherwise supported, a candidate for election as a member of the House of
Representatives or of any such House of Representatives established as aforesaid
or of any local government authority; or
(d) he is a public officer.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section,
the office of a member of the Commission shall become vacant—
(a) when the order of the Commission is published
in the Official Gazette in accordance with the provisions of 
section 38(6) of this Constitution; or
(b) if any circumstances arise that, if he
were not a member of the Commission, would cause him to be disqualified to
be appointed as such under subsection (3) of this section.
(5) A member of the Commission may be removed
from office only for inability to exercise the functions of his office (whether
arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for misbehaviour
and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions of this
section.
(6) A member of the Commission shall be removed
from office by the Governor-General if the question of his removal from office
has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (7) of this section
and the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General that he ought to
be removed from office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(7) If the Prime Minister represents to the
Governor-General that the question of removing a member of the Commission
under this section ought to be investigated, then—
(a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members,
selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have held office
as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal
matters in some part of the Commonwealth or in any country outside the Commonwealth
that may be prescribed by Parliament or a court having jurisdiction in appeal
from such a court; and
(b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the member ought to be removed under this section.
(8) If the question of removing a member
of the Commission has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the
Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service
Commission, may suspend that member from the exercise of the functions of
his office and any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the Governor-General,
acting in accordance with such advice as aforesaid, and shall in any case
cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General that
that member should not be removed.
(9) A member of the Commission shall not
enter upon the duties of his office until he has taken and subscribed the
oath of allegiance and the oath for the due execution of his office that is
set out in the Schedule
to this Constitution.
(10) In the exercise of its functions under
this Constitution the Commission shall not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.
(11) The Commission may by regulation or
otherwise regulate its own procedure and, with the consent of the Prime Minister,
may confer powers or impose duties on any public officer or on any authority
of the Government of The Gambia for the purpose of the exercise of its functions.

(12) The Commission may, subject to its rules
of procedure, act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership or the absence
of any member and its proceedings shall not be invalidated by the presence
or participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate
in those proceedings:Provided that any decisions of the Commission shall require
the concurrence of a majority of all its members.
38 

(1) For the purpose of the election of elected
members of the House of Representatives The Gambia shall, in accordance with
the provisions of this section, be divided into thirty-two constituencies
having such boundaries as may be prescribed by order made by the Constituency
Boundaries Commission.
(2) All constituencies shall contain as nearly
equal numbers of inhabitants as appears to the Commission to be reasonably
practicable but the Commission may depart from this principle to such extent
as it considers expedient in order to take account of the following factors,
that is to say:—
(a) the density of population, and in particular
the need to ensure the adequate representation of sparsely populated rural
areas;
(b) the means of communication;
(c) geographical features; and
(d) the boundaries of existing administrative
areas.
(3) The Governor-General shall appoint a
Constituency Boundaries Commission in the following circumstances, that is
to say:—
(a) whenever a census of the population of
The Gambia has been held in pursuance of any law;
(b) whenever Parliament has amended subsection
(1) of this section so as to alter the number of the constituencies into which
The Gambia is divided; or
(c) on the expiry of eight years after the
Commission last reviewed the boundaries of the constituencies in accordance
with the provisions of this section.
(4) Whenever the Constituency Boundaries
Commission has been appointed in the circumstances specified in subsection
(3)(a) or in the circumstances specified
in subsection (3)(b) of this section it
shall forth-with carry out a review of the boundaries of the constituencies
into which The Gambia is divided and may (and in the circumstances specified
in subsection (3)(b) shall), by order,
alter the boundaries in accordance with the provisions of this section to
such extent as it thinks desirable in the light of those circumstances and
the review.
(5) Whenever the Constituency Boundaries
Commission has been appointed in the circumstances specified in subsection
(3)(c) of this section it shall, within
the period of two years commencing with its appointment, carry out a review
of the boundaries of the constituencies into which The Gambia is divided and
may, by order, alter the boundaries in accordance with the provisions of this
section to such extent as it considers desirable in the light of the review.

(6) Every order made by the Constituency
Boundaries Commission under this section shall be published in the Official
Gazette and shall come into effect upon the next dissolution of Parliament
after it was made.
(7) To the extent that any Act of Parliament
amends subsection (1) of this section so as to alter the number of constituencies
into which The Gambia is divided it shall come into effect when the order
of the Commission that, in accordance with the provision of subsection (4)
of this section, is consequential thereon comes into effect.
(8) For the purposes of subsection (2) of
this section the number of inhabitants of any part of The Gambia shall be
ascertained by reference to the latest census of the population held in pursuance
of any law.
39 

(1) The Chiefs' representative members shall
be elected by the Head Chiefs from among their own number in such manner as,
subject to the provisions of this Constitution, may be prescribed by or under
any law.
(2) In any election of the Chiefs' representative
members the votes shall be given by ballot in such manner as not to disclose
how any particular person votes.
40 

(1) There shall be a Supervisor of Elections
whose duty it shall be to exercise general supervision over the registration
of voters in elections of the members of the House of Representatives and
over the conduct of such elections.
(2) The functions of the office of Supervisor
of Elections shall be exercised either by the person holding or acting in
such public office as may for the time being be designated in that behalf
by the Public Service Commission or, if the Public Service Commission so decides,
by such other person who is not a public officer as may for the time being
be so designated, but before exercising its powers under this subsection the
Public Service Commission shall consult with the Prime Minister.
(3) A person shall not enter upon the duties
of the office of Supervisor of Elections until he has taken and subscribed
the oath of allegiance and the oath for the due execution of his office that
is set out in the Schedule
to this Constitution.
(4) For the purpose of the exercise of his
functions under subsection (1) of this section, the Supervisor of Elections
may give such directions as he considers necessary or expedient to any registering
officer, presiding officer or returning officer relating to the exercise by
that officer of his functions under any law regulating the registration of
voters or the conduct of elections, and any officer to whom directions are
given under this subsection shall comply with those directions.
(5) The Supervisor of Elections may, whenever
he considers it necessary or expedient so to do, report to the House of Representatives
on the exercise of his functions under the foregoing provisions of this section;
he shall submit every such report to the Minister for the time being responsible
for matter relating to the election of members of the House of Representatives
and that Minister shall, not later than seven days after the House first meets
after he has received the report, lay it before the House.
(6) In the exercise of his functions under
the foregoing provisions of this section, the Supervisor of Elections shall
not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.

(7) The Supervisor of Elections shall exercise
such other functions in relation to elections (whether to the House of Representatives
or to local government authorities) as may be prescribed by or under an Act
of Parliament.
41 
The nominated
members shall be appointed by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with
the advice of the Prime Minister.
42 

(1) A voting member or a nominated member
of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat therein—
(a) if he is elected as Speaker;
(b) if any other circumstances arise that,
if he were not such a member, would cause him to be disqualified under 
section 35(1) of this Constitution or under
a law made in pursuance of section
35(2) or section 35(3) or section 35(6)
 of this Constitution to be elected as such
or, as the case may be, to be appointed as such;
(c) in the case of a voting member, if he
ceases to be a citizen of The Gambia;
(d) in the case of an elected member, if
he ceases to be registered as a voter in elections of elected members to the
House of Representatives or if he ceases to be qualified to vote in such elections;
or
(e) in the case of a Chiefs' representative
member, if he ceases to be a Head Chief.
(2) Parliament may, in order to permit any
member of the House of Representatives who has been adjudged or declared to
be of unsound mind, adjudged or declared bankrupt, sentenced to death or imprisonment
or convicted or reported guilty of any offence prescribed under 
section 35(3) of this Constitution to appeal
against the decision in accordance with any law, provide that, subject to
such conditions as may be prescribed by Parliament, the decision shall not
have effect for the purposes of this section until such time as may be so
prescribed.
43 

(1) There shall be a Speaker of the House
of Representatives who shall be elected by the House from among persons who
are members thereof or who are qualified to be elected as such.
(2) A Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary
shall not be qualified to be elected as Speaker.
(3) The Speaker shall vacate his office—

(a) in the case of a Speaker who was elected
from among the members of the House of Representatives, if any circumstances
arise that, if he had not been so elected, would have caused him to vacate
his seat as a member under section 42
of this Constitution;
(b) if any circumstances arise that, if he
where not Speaker, would cause him to be disqualified to be elected as such;

(c) when the House of Representatives first
meets after a dissolution of Parliament; or
(d) if he is removed from office by resolution
of the House of Representatives supported by the votes of two-thirds of all
the voting members.
(4) No business shall be transacted in the
House of Representatives (other than the election of a Speaker) at any time
when the office of Speaker is vacant.
44 

(1) There shall be a Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives who shall be elected by the House from among persons
who are members thereof.
(2) A Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary
shall not be qualified to be elected as Deputy Speaker.
(3) The House of Representative shall elect
a Deputy Speaker—
(a) Subject to the provisions of 
section 43(4) of this Constitution, when it
first meets in every session; and
(b) when it first meets after the office
of Deputy Speaker has become vacant,or as soon thereafter as may be convenient.
(4) The Deputy Speaker shall vacant his office—

(a) if he vacates his seat as a member of
the House of Representatives;
(b) when the House first meets in each session;

(c) if he becomes a Minister or a Parliamentary
Secretary; or
(d) if he is removed from office by resolution
of the House of Representatives.
45 

(1) There shall be a Clerk to the House of
Representatives.
(2) The office of the Clerk to the House
of Representatives and the offices of the members of his staff shall be public
offices.
46 

(1) The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction
to hear and determine any question whether—
(a) any person has been validly elected as
a voting member of the House of Representatives;
(b) any person has been validly appointed
as a nominated member of the House;
(c) any person who has been elected as Speaker
of the House from among persons who were not members thereof was qualified
to be so elected; or
(d) the seat in the House of any member thereof
has become vacant.
(2) An application to the Supreme Court for
the determination of any question under subsection (1)(
a) of this section may be made by any person qualified to vote
in the election to which the application relates or by the Attorney-General
and, if it is made by a person other than the Attorney-General, the Attorney-General
may intervene and may then appear or be represented in the proceedings.
(3) An application to the Supreme Court for
the determination of any question under subsection (1)(
b) or subsection (1)(c) of this
section may be made by any voting member of the House of Representatives or
by the Attorney-General and, if it is made by a person other than the Attorney-General,
the Attorney-General may intervene and may then appear or be represented in
the proceedings.
(4) An application to the Supreme Court for
the determination of any question under subsection (1)(
d) of this section may be made—
(a) by any voting member of the House or
by the Attorney-General;
(b) in the case of the seat of an elected
member of the House, by any person registered in some constituency as a voter
in elections of elected members of the House; or
(c) in the case of the seat of a Chief's
representative member, by any Head Chief,and, if it is made by a person other than the Attorney-General,
the Attorney-General may intervene and may then appear or be represented in
the proceedings.
(5) Parliament may make provision with respect
to—
(a) the circumstances and manner in which
and the imposition of reasonable conditions upon which any application may
be made to the Supreme Court for the determination of any question under this
section; and
(b) the powers, practice and procedure of
the Supreme Court in relation to any such application.
(6) The determination by the Supreme Court
of any question under this section shall not be subject to appeal.
(7) In the exercise of his functions under
this section, the Attorney-General shall not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.
PART 2
47 
Subject to
the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament may make laws for the peace,
order and good government of The Gambia.
48 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section,
Parliament may alter this Constitution.
(2) A bill for an Act of Parliament under
this section shall not be passed by the House of Representatives unless it
was supported on the final reading in the House by the votes of two-thirds
of all the voting members of the House.
(3) A bill for an Act of Parliament to alter
any of the following provisions of this Constitution, that is to say:—

(a) this section;
(b) 
sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27,
28, 32, 
36(1), 37, 38
(except in so far as it prescribes the number of constituencies), 
47, 59(1), 60, 61, 76, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95,
96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111,
112 and 113; and
(c) section
116 in its application to any of the provisions
specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection,shall not be submitted to the Governor-General for his assent unless
the bill, after it has been passed by the House of Representatives and in
the form in which it was so passed, has, in accordance with the provisions
of any law in that behalf, been submitted to and been approved at a referendum.

(4) Every person who is entitled to vote
in elections of elected members of the House of Representatives shall be entitled
to vote at a referendum held for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section
and no other person may so vote; and the bill shall not be regarded as having
been approved at that referendum unless it was so approved by the votes of
one-half of all such persons or by two-thirds of all the votes validly cast
at the referendum.
(5) The conduct of any referendum for the
purposes of subsection (3) of this section shall be under the general supervision
of the Supervisor of Elections and the provisions of subsections (4), (5) and (6) of 
section 40 of this Constitution shall apply
in relation to the exercise by the Supervisor of Elections or by any-other
officer of his functions with respect to a referendum as they apply in relation
to the exercise of his functions with respect to elections of members of the
House of Representatives.
(6) A bill for an Act of Parliament under
this section shall not be submitted to the Governor-General for his assent
unless it is accompanied by a certificate under the hand of the Speaker of
the House of Representatives (or, if the Speaker is for any reason unable
to exercise the functions of his office, the Deputy Speaker) that the provisions
of subsection (2) of this section and, where appropriate, the provisions of
subsections (3) and (4) of this section have been complied with, and every
such certificate shall be conclusive for all purposes and shall not be enquired
into in any court.
(7) A bill for an Act of Parliament shall
not be held to alter any of the provisions specified in subsection (3) of
this section by reason only that it provides for the substitution for a reference
to Her Majesty or to the Governor-General in any of those provisions of a
reference to some other person or authority:Provided that a person or authority who is substituted
in any such provision for Her Majesty or the Governor-General shall exercise
any function that is vested in him by virtue of the substitution in the same
manner and subject to the same conditions, if any, as would have applied to
the exercise of that function by Her Majesty or the Governor-General, as the
case may be, if that substitution had not been made.
(8) In this section—
(a) references to this Constitution include
references to any law that amends or replaces any of the provisions of this
Constitution; and
(b) references to the alteration of this
Constitution include references to the amendment, modification or re-enactment,
with or without amendment or modification, of any provision for the time being
contained in this Constitution, the suspension or repeal of any such provision,
the making of different provision in lieu of such provision and the addition
of new provisions to this Constitution, and references to the alteration of
any particular provision of this Constitution shall be construed likewise.

49 
No provision
of law, in so far as it provides for the abolition of the office of Head Chief,
Deputy Head Chief, Sub-Chief or Headman, shall have effect unless it is included
in an Act of Parliament; and the provisions of 
section 48 of this Constitution shall apply
in relation to a bill for such an Act as they apply in relation to a bill
for an Act to alter this Constitution (not being such a bill as is referred
to in subsection (3)
of the said section 48).
50 

(1) Every member of the House of Representatives
shall, before taking his seat in the House, take and subscribe before the
House the oath of allegiance but a member may before taking that oath take
part in the election of a Speaker of the House.
(2) Any person elected to the office of Speaker
of the House of Representatives shall, if he has not already taken and subscribed
the oath of allegiance under subsection (1) of this section, take and subscribe
that oath before the House before entering upon the duties of his office.

51 
There shall preside at any sitting of the House of Representatives—

(a) the Speaker; or
(b) in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy
Speaker; or
(c) in the absence of the Speaker and the
Deputy Speaker, such member of the House (not being a Minister or a Parliamentary
Secretary) as the House may elect for that purpose.
52 

If objection is taken by any member of the House of Representatives present
that there are present in the House (besides the person presiding) less than
one-fourth of all the members of the House and, after such interval as may
be prescribed in the rules of procedure of the House, the person presiding
ascertains that the number of members present is still less than one-fourth
of all the members of the House, he shall thereupon adjourn the House.
53 
The business of the House of Representatives shall be conducted
in English.
54 

(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Constitution,
any question proposed for decision in the House of Representatives shall be
determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting.
(2) The Speaker shall have neither an original
nor a casting vote.
(3) The Deputy Speaker or other member of
the House of Representatives presiding in the absence of the Speaker shall
have a casting vote but no original vote.
(4) If there is an equality of votes on any
question before the House of Representatives and either the Speaker is presiding
or the Deputy Speaker or other member presiding does not exercise his casting
vote, the motion before the House shall be deemed to be lost.
(5) The rules of procedure of the House of
Representatives may make provision under which a member who votes upon a question
in which he has a direct pecuniary interest shall be deemed not to have voted.

55 

(1) Any person who sits or votes in the House
of Representatives knowing or having reasonable grounds for knowing that he
is not entitled to do so shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine
not exceeding £20, or such other sum as may be prescribed by Parliament,
for each day on which he so sits or votes in the House.
(2) Any prosecution for an offence under
this section shall be instituted in the Supreme Court and shall not be so
instituted except by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
56 

(1) The power of Parliament to make laws
shall be exercisable by bills passed by the House of Representatives and assented
to by the Governor-General on behalf of Her Majesty.
(2) When a bill is submitted to the Governor-General
for assent in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution he shall
signify that he assents or that he withholds assent.
(3) When the Governor-General assents to
a bill that has been submitted to him in accordance with the provisions of
this Constitution the bill shall become law and the Governor-General shall
thereupon cause it to be published in the Official Gazette as a law.
(4) No law made by Parliament shall come
into operation until it has been published in the Official Gazette but Parliament
may postpone the coming into operation of any such law and may make laws with
retrospective effect.
(5) All laws made by Parliament shall be
styled “Acts of Parliament” and the words of enactment shall be
“Enacted by the Parliament of The Gambia”.
57 
Except on the recommendation of the Governor-General signified
by a Minister, the House of Representatives shall not—
(a) proceed upon any bill (including any
amendment to a bill) that, in the opinion of the person presiding, makes provision
for any of the following purposes:—
(i) for the imposition of taxation or the
alteration of taxation otherwise than by reduction;
(ii) for the imposition of any charge upon
the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of The Gambia or the
alteration of any such charge otherwise than by reduction;
(iii) for the payment, issue or withdrawal
from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of The Gambia
of any monies not charged thereon or any increase in the amount of such a
payment, issue or withdrawal; or
(iv) for the composition or remission of
any debt due to the Government of The Gambia; or
(b) proceed upon any motion (including any
amendment to a motion) the effect of which, in the opinion of the person presiding,
would be to make provision for any of those purposes.
58 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution
the House of Representatives may regulate its own procedure and may in particular
make rules for the orderly conduct of its own proceedings.
(2) The House of Representatives may act
notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership (including any vacancy not filled
when the House first meets after any general election) and the presence or
participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate
in the proceedings of the House shall not invalidate those proceedings.
(3) Parliament may, for the purpose of the
orderly and effective discharge of the business of the House of Representatives,
make provision for the powers, privileges and immunities of the House and
the committees and the members thereof.
PART 3
59 

(1) Each session of Parliament shall be held
at such place within The Gambia and shall begin at such time (not being later
than twelve months from the end of the preceding session if Parliament has
been prorogued or fourteen days from the holding of a general election of
members of the House of Representatives if Parliament has been dissolved)
as the Governor-General shall appoint.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(1) of this section, the sittings of the House of Representatives shall be
held at such time and place as the House may, by its rules of procedure or
otherwise, determine.
60 

(1) The Governor-General may at any time
prorogue or dissolve Parliament.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(3) of this section, Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for
five years from the date of the first sitting of the House of Representatives
after any dissolution and shall then stand dissolved.
(3) At any time when The Gambia is at war,
Parliament may extend the period of five years specified in subsection (2)
of this section for not more than twelve months at a time:Provided that the life of Parliament shall not be extended
under this subsection for more than five years.
(4) In the exercise of his powers to dissolve
Parliament, the Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister:Provided that—
(a) if the Prime Minister advises a dissolution
and the Governor-General considers that the government of The Gambia can be
carried on without a dissolution and that a dissolution would not be in the
interests of The Gambia, he may refuse to dissolve Parliament;
(b) if the House of Representatives passes
a resolution that it has no confidence in the Government of The Gambia and
the Prime Minister does not within three days either resign or advise a dissolution,
the Governor-General may dissolve Parliament; and
(c) if the office of Prime Minister is vacant
and the Governor-General considers that there is no prospect of his being
able within a reasonable time to appoint to that office a person who can command
the support of the majority of the voting members of the House of Representatives,
the Governor-General shall dissolve Parliament.
61 

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(2) of this section, a general election of members of the House of Representatives
shall be held at such time within three months after any dissolution of Parliament
as the Governor-General may appoint.
(2) If, when Parliament has been dissolved,
the Prime Minister advises the Governor-General that, owing to the existence
of a public emergency, it would not be practicable to hold a general election
within three months after the dissolution, the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, may by Proclamation recall
the Parliament that has been dissolved and the following provisions shall
then have effect, that is to say:—
(a) the House of Representatives shall meet
at such date, not later than fourteen days after the date of the Proclamation,
as may be specified therein;
(b) the Prime Minister shall, subject to
the provisions of section 43(4)
of this Constitution introduce or cause to be introduced in the House of Representatives
as soon as it meets a resolution declaring that a public emergency exists
and, subject as aforesaid, no other business shall be transacted in the House
until that resolution has been passed;
(c) if the resolution is passed by the House
of Representatives with the support of the votes of two-thirds of all the
voting members thereof, a general election shall be held at such time within
twelve months after the original dissolution of the Parliament that has been
recalled as the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister, may appoint; and the Parliament that has been recalled
shall be deemed to be the Parliament for the time being and may meet and be
kept in session accordingly until the date fixed for the nomination of candidates
in that general election and, unless previously dissolved, shall then stand
dissolved; and
(d) if the resolution is defeated, or, though
passed, did not obtain the support of the votes of two-thirds of all the voting
members of the House, or has not been put to the vote within five days after
it has been introduced, the Parliament that has been recalled shall then be
again dissolved and a general election shall be held at such time within three
months after the date of the Proclamation by which Parliament was so recalled
as the Governor-General may appoint.
CHAPTER V
62 

(1) The executive authority of The Gambia
is vested in Her Majesty.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution,
the executive authority of The Gambia may be exercised on behalf of Her Majesty
by the Governor-General, either directly or through officers subordinate to
him.
(3) Nothing in this section shall prevent
Parliament from conferring functions on persons or authorities other than
the Governor-General.
63 

(1) There shall be a Prime Minister of The
Gambia, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General.
(2) Whenever the Governor-General has occasion
to appoint a Prime Minister he shall appoint a voting member of the House
of Representatives who appears to him likely to command the support of the
majority of the voting members of the House.
(3) There shall be, in addition to the office
of Prime Minister, such other offices of Minister as, subject to the provisions
of section 64(2)
of this Constitution may be established by Parliament or, subject as aforesaid
and to the provisions of any Act of Parliament, by the Governor-General, acting
in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(4) Appointments to the office of Minister,
other than the office of Prime Minister, shall be made by the Governor-General,
acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, from among the
members of the House of Representatives.
(5) If occasion arises for making an appointment
to the office of Prime Minister or any other Minister while Parliament is
dissolved, then, notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a person
who was a voting member of the House of Representatives immediately before
the dissolution may be appointed as Prime Minister or any other Minister and
a person who was a nominated member immediately before the dissolution may
be appointed as any Minister other than Prime Minister.
(6) The Governor-General may remove the Prime
Minister from office—
(a) if a resolution of no confidence in the
Government of The Gambia is passed by the House of Representatives and the
Prime Minister does not within three days either resign from his office or
advise a dissolution of Parliament; or
(b) if, at any time between the holding of
a general election of the elected members of the House of Representatives
and the date on which the House first meets thereafter, the Governor-General
considers that in consequence of changes in the membership of the House resulting
from that election the Prime Minister will not be able to command the support
of the majority of the voting members of the House.
(7) The office of any Minister shall become
vacant—
(a) if the holder of the office ceases to
be a member of the House of Representatives otherwise than by reason of the
dissolution of Parliament;
(b) in the case of the Prime Minister, if,
when the House of Representatives first meets after the dissolution of Parliament,
he is not then a voting member thereof; or
(c) in the case of any other Minister, if,
when the House of Representatives first meets after the dissolution of Parliament,
he is not then a member thereof.
(8) The office of a Minister other than the
Prime Minister shall become vacant—
(a) if the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister, so directs;
(b) if the Prime Minister resigns from office
within three days after the passage by the House of Representatives of a resolution
of no confidence in the Government of The Gambia or is removed from office
under subsection (6) of this section; or
(c) on the appointment of any person to the
office of Prime Minister.
64 

(1) There shall be an Attorney-General who
shall be principal legal adviser to the Government of The Gambia.
(2) The office of Attorney-General shall
be the office of a Minister.
(3) No person shall be qualified to hold
the office of Attorney-General unless he is entitled to practise as a barrister
or a solicitor in The Gambia.
(4) If the person holding the office of Attorney-General
is for any reason unable to exercise the functions conferred upon him by or
under any law, those functions may be exercised by such other person, being
a person entitled to practise as a barrister or a solicitor in The Gambia
(whether or not he is a member of the House of Representatives), as the Governor-General,
acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, may direct.
65 
There shall be a Cabinet of Ministers which shall consist of the
Prime Minister and such other Ministers as may for the time being be designated
in that behalf by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice
of the Prime Minister.
66 

(1) The function of the Cabinet shall be
to advise the Governor-General in the government of The Gambia and the Cabinet
shall be collectively responsible to Parliament for any advice given to the
Governor-General by or under the general authority of the Cabinet and for
all things done by or under the authority of any Minister in the execution
of his office.
(2) The provisions of this section shall
not apply in relation to—
(a) the appointment and removal from office
of Ministers, members of the Cabinet and Parliamentary Secretaries, the assignment
of responsibility to any Minister under section
67 of this Constitution, or the authorization
of another member of the Cabinet to perform the functions of the Prime Minister
during absence or illness;
(b) the dissolution of Parliament; or
(c) the matters referred to in 
section 77 of this Constitution (which relates
to the prerogative of mercy).
67 
The Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the
Prime Minister, may, by directions in writing, assign to the Prime Minister
or any other Minister responsibility for any business of the Government of
The Gambia, including the administration of any department of government.

68 

(1) Whenever the Prime Minister is absent
from The Gambia or is by reason of illness unable to perform the functions
conferred upon him by this Constitution, the Governor-General may authorize
some other member of the Cabinet to perform those functions (other than the
functions conferred by this section) and that member may perform those functions
until his authority is revoked by the Governor-General.
(2) The powers of the Governor-General under
this section shall be exercised by him in accordance with the advice of the
Prime Minister:Provided that if the Governor-General considers that it
is impracticable to obtain the advice of the Prime Minister owing to his absence
or illness he may exercise those powers without that advice.
69 

(1) In the exercise of his functions the
Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or
a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet except in cases
where he is required by this Constitution or any other law to act in accordance
with the advice of any person or authority other than the Cabinet:Provided that the Governor-General shall act in accordance
with his own deliberate judgment in the performance of the following functions:—

(a) in the exercise of the powers relating
to the dissolution of Parliament conferred upon him by the proviso to 
section 60(4) of this Constitution;
(b) in the exercise of the power to appoint
the Prime Minister conferred upon him by subsection
(2) or subsection (5)
of section 63 of this Constitution;

(c) in the exercise of the power to remove
the Prime Minister from office conferred on him by 
section 63(6) of this Constitution;
(d) in the exercise of the powers conferred
upon him by section 68
of this Constitution (which relates to the performance of the functions of
the Prime Minister during absence or illness) in the circumstances described
in the proviso to subsection (2) of that section; and
(e) in signifying his approval for the purposes
of section 106(4)
of this Constitution of an appointment to an office on his personal staff.

(2) Where the Governor-General is required
by this Constitution to act in accordance with the advice of any person or
authority, the question whether he has in any case received, or acted in accordance
with, such advice shall not be enquired into in any court.
70 
The Prime Minister shall keep the Governor-General
fully informed concerning the general conduct of the government of The Gambia
and shall furnish the Governor-General with such information as he may request
with respect to any particular matter relating to the government of The Gambia.

71 

(1) The Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister, may appoint Parliamentary Secretaries
from among the members of the House of Representatives to assist Ministers
in the performance of their duties:Provided that, if occasion arises for making an appointment
while Parliament is dissolved, a person who was a member of the House immediately
before the dissolution may be appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary.
(2) The office of a Parliamentary Secretary
shall become vacant—
(a) if the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister, so directs;
(b) if the Prime Minister resigns from office
within three days after the passage by the House of Representatives of a resolution
of no confidence in the Government of The Gambia or is removed from office
under section 63(6)
of this Constitution;
(c) on the appointment of any person to the
office of Prime Minister;
(d) if the holder of the office ceases to
be a member of the House of Representatives otherwise than by reason of a
dissolution of Parliament; or
(e) if, when the House of Representatives
first meets after the dissolution of Parliament, the holder of the office
is not then a member thereof.
72 

A member of the Cabinet, a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary shall not
enter upon the duties of his office unless he has taken and subscribed the
oath of allegiance and such oath for the due execution of his office as may
be prescribed by Parliament.
73 
Where
any Minister has been charged with responsibility for any department of government,
he shall exercise general direction and control over that department; and,
subject to such direction and control, every department of government shall
be under the supervision of a public officer whose office is referred to in
this Constitution as the office of permanent secretary:
Provided that two or more government departments may be
placed under the supervision of one permanent secretary.
74 

(1) There shall be a Secretary to the Cabinet
whose office shall be a public office.
(2) The Secretary to the Cabinet, who shall
have charge of the Cabinet Office, shall be responsible, in accordance with
such instructions as may be given to him by the Prime Minister, for arranging
the business for, and keeping the minutes of, the Cabinet and for conveying
the decisions of the Cabinet to the appropriate person or authority and shall
have such other functions as the Prime Minister may direct.
75 

Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and of any other law, the Governor-General
may constitute offices for The Gambia, make appointments to any such office
and terminate any such appointment.
76 

(1) There shall be a Director of Public Prosecutions
whose office shall be a public office.
(2) The Director of Public Prosecutions shall
have power in any case in which he considers it desirable so to do—

(a) to institute and undertake criminal proceedings
against any person before any court (other than a court-martial) in respect
of any offence alleged to have been committed by that person;
(b) to take over and continue any such criminal
proceedings that have been instituted or undertaken by any other person or
authority; and
(c) to discontinue at any stage before judgment
is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken by himself
or any other person or authority.
(3) The powers of the Director of Public
Prosecutions under subsection (2) of this section may be exercised by him
in person or through other persons acting under and in accordance with his
general or special instructions.
(4) The powers conferred on the Director
of Public Prosecutions by paragraphs (b)
and (c) of subsection (2) of this section
shall be vested in him to the exclusion of any other person or authority:
Provided that where any other person or authority has
instituted criminal proceedings, nothing in this subsection shall prevent
the withdrawal of those proceedings by or at the instance of that person or
authority and with the leave of the court.
(5) For the purposes of this section, any
appeal from a judgment in criminal proceedings before any court, or any case
stated or question of law reserved for the purpose of any such proceedings,
to any other court (including the Judicial Committee) shall be deemed to be
part of those proceedings:Provided that the power conferred on the Director of Public
Prosecutions by subsection (2)(c) of this
section shall not exercised in relation to any appeal by a person convicted
in any criminal proceedings or to any case stated or question of law reserved
at the instance of such a person.
(6) In the exercise of the functions vested
in him by subsection (2) of this section and by 
section 55 of this Constitution, the Director
of Public Prosecutions shall not be subject to the direction or control of
any other person or authority.
77 

(1) The Governor-General may, in Her Majesty's
name and on Her Majesty's behalf—
(a) grant a pardon, either free or subject
to lawful conditions, to any person concerned in or convicted of any offence;

(b) grant to any person a respite, either
indefinite or for a specified period, of the execution of any punishment imposed
on that person for any offence;
(c) substitute a less severe form of punishment
for any punishment imposed on any person for any offence; or
(d) remit the whole or any part of any punishment
imposed on any person for any offence or of any penalty or forfeiture otherwise
due to the Crown on account of any offence.
(2) The powers of the Governor-General under
subsection (1) of this section shall be exercised by him in accordance with
the advice of the Prime Minister.
78 

(1) There shall be an Advisory Committee
on the Prerogative of Mercy which shall consist of—
(a) the Prime Minister, who shall be Chairman;

(b) the Attorney-General; and
(c) not less than two nor more than four
other members appointed by the Governor-General, by instrument in writing
under his hand, of whom at least one shall be a Minister and at least one
shall be a person entitled to practise in The Gambia as a medical practitioner.

(2) A member of the Committee appointed under
subsection (1)(c) of this section shall
hold his seat thereon for such period as may be specified in the instrument
by which he was appointed:Provided that his seat shall become vacant—
(a) in the case of a person who, at the date
of his appointment, was a Minister, if he ceases to be a Minister;
(b) in the case of a person who, at the date
of his appointment, was entitled to practise in The Gambia as a medical practitioner,
if he ceases to be so entitled; or
(c) if the Governor-General, by instrument
in writing under his hand, so directs.
(3) The Committee may act notwithstanding
any vacancy in its membership or the absence of any member and its proceedings
shall not be invalidated by the presence or participation of any person not
entitled to be present at or to participate in those proceedings.
(4) The Committee may regulate its own procedure.

(5) In the exercise of his functions under
this section, the Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice
of the Prime Minister.
79 

(1) Where any person has been sentenced to
death (otherwise than by a court-martial) for an offence, the Prime Minister
shall cause a written report of the case from the trial judge, together with
such other information derived from the record of the case or elsewhere as
he may require, to be taken into consideration at a meeting of the Advisory
Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy; and after obtaining the advice of the
Committee he shall decide in his own deliberate judgment whether to advise
the Governor-General to exercise any of his powers under 
section 77(1) of this Constitution.
(2) The Prime Minister may consult with the
Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy before making any recommendation
to the Governor-General under section 77(2)
of this Constitution in any case not falling within subsection (1) of this
section but he shall not be obliged, to act in accordance with the advice
of the Committee.
CHAPTER VI
80 
All
revenues or other monies raised or received by The Gambia (not being revenues
or other monies that are payable, by or under an Act of Parliament, into some
other fund established for any specific purpose or that may, by or under such
an Act, be retained by the authority that received them for the purpose of
defraying the expenses of that authority) shall be paid into and form a Consolidated
Revenue Fund.
81 

(1) No monies shall be withdrawn from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund except—
(a) to meet expenditure that is charged upon
the Fund by this Constitution or by any Act of Parliament; or
(b) where the issue of those monies has been
authorised by an Appropriation Act or by an Act made in pursuance of 
section 83 of this Constitution.
(2) Where any monies are charged by this
Constitution or any Act of Parliament upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund or
any other public fund, they shall be paid out of that fund by the Government
of The Gambia to the person or authority to whom payment is due.
(3) No monies shall be withdrawn from any
public fund other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund unless the issue of those
monies has been authorised by or under any law.
(4) Parliament may prescribe the manner in
which withdrawals may be made from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other
public fund.
82 

(1) The Minister for the time being responsible
for finance shall cause to be prepared and laid before the House of Representatives
in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of The Gambia
for the next following financial year.
(2) When the estimates of expenditure (other
than expenditure charged upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund by this Constitution
or by any Act of Parliament) have been approved by the House of Representatives,
a bill, to be known as an Appropriation bill, shall be introduced in the House,
providing for the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the sums necessary
to meet that expenditure and the appropriation of those sums, under separate
votes for the several services required, to the purposes specified therein.

(3) If in respect of any financial year it
is found—
(a) that the amount appropriated by the Appropriation
Act to any purpose is insufficient or that a need has arisen for expenditure
for a purpose to which no amount has been appropriated by that Act; or
(b) that any monies have been expended for
any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated to that purpose by the Appropriation
Act or for a purpose to which no amount has been appropriated by that Act,
a supplementary estimate or, as the case may be, a statement of
excess showing the sums required or spent shall be laid before the House of
Representatives and, when the supplementary estimate or statement of excess
has been approved by the House, a supplementary Appropriation bill shall be
introduced in the House, providing for the issue of such sums from the Consolidated
Revenue Fund and appropriating them to the purposes specified therein.
83 
Parliament may make provision under which, if the Appropriation
Act in respect of any financial year has not come into operation by the beginning
of that financial year, the Minister responsible for finance may authorize
the withdrawal of moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose
of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of the Government
until the expiration of four months from the beginning of that financial year
or the coming into operation of the Act, whichever is the earlier.
84 

(1) Parliament may make provision for the
establishment of a Contingencies Fund and for authorising the Minister for
the time being responsible for finance, if satisfied that there has arisen
an urgent and unforeseen need for expenditure for which no other provision
exists, to make advances from that Fund to meet that need.
(2) Where any advance is made from the Contingencies
Fund, a supplementary estimate shall be presented and a supplementary Appropriation
bill shall be introduced as soon as possible for the purpose of replacing
the amount so advanced.
85 

(1) There shall be paid to the holders of
the offices to which this section applies such salary and such allowances
as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.
(2) The salaries and allowances prescribed
in pursuance of this section in respect of the holders of the offices to which
this section applies shall be a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
(3) The salary prescribed in pursuance of
this section in respect of the holder of any office to which this section
applies and his other terms of service (other than allowances that are not
taken into account in computing, under any law in that behalf, any pension
payable in respect of his service in that office) shall not be altered to
his disadvantage after his appointment.
(4) When a person's salary or other terms
of service depend upon his option, the salary or terms for which he opts shall,
for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, be deemed to be more advantageous
to him than any others for which he might have opted.
(5) This section applies to the offices of
the Governor-General, a judge of the Court of Appeal, a judge of the Supreme
Court, a member of the Constituency Boundaries Commission, a member of the
Public Service Commission, the appointed member of the Judicial Service Commission,
the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Director of Audit.
(6) In relation to a person who, not being
a public officer, is for the time being designated under 
section 40(2) of this Constitution to exercise
the functions of the office of Supervisor of Elections, this section shall
also apply to that office and shall so apply as if that person were the holder
of that office.
(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed
as prejudicing the provisions of section 112
 of this Constitution (which protects pensions
rights in respect of service as a public officer).
86 

(1) All debt charges for which The Gambia
is liable shall be a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
(2) For the purposes of this section debt
charges include interest, sinking fund charges, the repayment or amortisation
of debt and all expenditure in connection with the raising of loans on the
security of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and the service and redemption of
debt created thereby.
87 

(1) There shall be a Director of Audit whose
office shall be a public office.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Director
of Audit—
(a) to satisfy himself that all monies that
have been appropriated by Parliament and disbursed have been applied to the
purposes to which they were so appropriated and that the expenditure conforms
to the authority that governs it; and
(b) at least once in every year to audit
and report on the public accounts of The Gambia, the accounts of all officers
and authorities of the Government of The Gambia, the accounts of all courts
in The Gambia (other than courts no part of the expenses of which are defrayed
directly out of monies provided by Parliament), the accounts of every Commission
established by this Constitution and the accounts of the Clerk to the House
of Representatives.
(3) The Director of Audit and any officer
authorised by him shall have access to all books, records, returns, reports
and other documents which in his opinion relate to any of the accounts referred
to in subsection (2) of this section.
(4) The Director of Audit shall submit every
report made by him in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section to the Minister
for the time being responsible for finance who shall, not later than seven
days after the House of Representatives first meets after he has received
the report, lay it before the House.
(5) The Director of Audit shall exercise
such other functions in relation to the accounts of the Government of The
Gambia or the accounts of other authorities or bodies established by law for
public purposes as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.
(6) In the exercise of his functions under
subsections (2), (3) and (4) of this section, the Director of Audit shall
not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.

CHAPTER VII
PART 1
88 

(1) There shall be a Supreme Court which
shall have unlimited original jurisdiction to hear and determine any civil
or criminal proceedings under any law and such jurisdiction and powers as
may be conferred on it by this Constitution or any other law.
(2) The judges of the
Supreme Court shall be the Chief Justice and such number, if any, of other
judges (hereinafter referred to as “the puisne
judges”) as may be prescribed by Parliament: Provided that the office of a puisne judge shall not be abolished
while there is a substantive holder thereof.
(3) The Supreme Court shall be a superior
court of record and, save as otherwise provided by Parliament, shall have
all the powers of such a court.
(4) The Supreme Court shall sit in such places
as the Chief Justice may appoint.
89 

(1) The Chief Justice shall be appointed
by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister.
(2) The puisne judges shall be appointed
by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Judicial
Service Commission.
(3) 
(a) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court unless—
(i) he holds or has held office as a judge
of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in
some part of the Commonwealth or in any country outside the Commonwealth that
may be prescribed by Parliament or a court having jurisdiction in appeals
from such a court; or
(ii) he holds one of the specified qualifications
and has held one or other of those qualifications for a total period of not
less than seven years.
(b) In this subsection 
“the specified qualifications” means the professional qualifications specified under the Courts Ordinance
1964 (or by or under
any law amending or replacing that Ordinance) one of which must be held by
any person before he may apply under that Ordinance (or under any such law)
to be admitted to practise as a barrister or a solicitor in The Gambia.

(4) If the office of Chief Justice is vacant
or the Chief Justice is for any reason unable to exercise the functions of
his office, then, until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the
functions of that office or until the person holding that office has resumed
those functions, as the case may be, they shall be exercised by such one of
the judges of the Court of Appeal or the puisne judges or such other person
qualified to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court as the Governor-General,
acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, may appoint:Provided that—
(a) a person may be appointed under this
subsection notwithstanding that he has attained the age prescribed for the
purposes of section 90(1)
of this Constitution; and
(b) a person appointed under this subsection
may, notwithstanding the assumption or resumption of the functions of the
office of Chief Justice by the holder of that office, continue to act as Chief
Justice for so long thereafter and to such extent as may be necessary to enable
him to deliver judgment or to do any other thing in relation to proceedings
that were commenced before him previously thereto.
(5) If the office of any puisne judge is
vacant or if any such judge is appointed to act as Chief Justice or is for
any reason unable to perform the functions of his office or if the Chief Justice
advises the Governor-General that the state of business in the Supreme Court
so requires, the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of
the Judicial Service Commission, may appoint a person who is qualified to
be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court to act as a puisne judge of that
court:Provided that a person may act as a judge notwithstanding
that he has attained the age prescribed for the purposes of 
section 90(1) of this Constitution.
(6) Any person appointed under subsection
(5) of this section to act as a puisne judge shall, subject to the provisions
of sections 90(4) and 
90(7) of this Constitution, continue to act
for the period of his appointment or, if no such period is specified, until
his appointment is revoked by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with
the advice of the Judicial Service Commission:Provided that, notwithstanding the expiration of the period
of his appointment or the revocation of his appointment, he may thereafter
continue to act as a puisne judge for so long as may be necessary to enable
him to deliver judgment or to do any other thing in relation to proceedings
that were commenced before him previously thereto.
90 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section,
a person holding the office of a judge of the Supreme Court shall vacate that
office when he attains the prescribed age.
(2) Notwithstanding that he has attained
the age prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, a person
holding the office of a judge of the Supreme Court may continue in office
for so long after attaining that age as may be necessary to enable him to
deliver judgment or to do any other thing in relation to proceedings that
were commenced before him before he attained that age.
(3) A person holding the office of a judge
of the Supreme Court may be removed from office only for inability to exercise
the functions his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or
any other cause) or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
(4) A judge of the Supreme Court shall be
removed from office by the Governor-General if the question of his removal
has been referred by the Governor-General to the Judicial Committee under
subsection (5) of this section and the Judicial Committee has advised the
Governor-General that the judge ought to be removed from office for inability
as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(5) If the Prime Minister or, in the case
of a puisne judge, the Chief Justice represents to the Governor-General that
the question of removing a judge under this section ought to be investigated,
then—
(a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members,
selected in accordance with the provisions of subsection (6) of this section
from among persons who hold or have held office as a judge of a court having
unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth
or in any country outside the Commonwealth that may be prescribed by Parliament
or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from such a court;
(b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to the
Governor-General whether the question of the removal of that judge from office
should be referred by him to the Judicial Committee; and
(c) if the tribunal so recommends, the Governor-General
shall refer the question to the Judicial Committee which shall advise the
Governor-General thereon.
(6) When the question of removing the Chief
Justice is to be investigated the members of the tribunal shall be selected
by the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, and when the question of
removing a puisne judge is to be investigated they shall be selected by the
Chief Justice.
(7) If the question of removing a judge from
office has been referred to a tribunal under subsection (5) of this section,
the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister
in the case of the Chief Justice and in accordance with the advice of the
Chief Justice in the case of a puisne judge, may suspend the judge from exercising
the functions of his office and any such suspension may at any time be revoked
by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with such advice as aforesaid,
and shall in any case cease to have effect—
(a) if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General
that the question of the removal of the judge from office should not be referred
to the Judicial Committee; or
(b) if the Judicial Committee advises the
Governor-General that the judge ought not to be removed from office.
(8) The prescribed age for the purposes of
subsection (1) of this section is the age of sixty-two years or such other
age as may be prescribed by Parliament:Provided that an Act of Parliament, to the extent to which
it alters the prescribed age after the appointment of a person to be a judge
of the Supreme Court, shall not have effect in relation to that person unless
he consents that it should have effect.
91 
A judge of the Supreme Court shall not enter upon the duties of
his office until he has taken and subscribed the oath of allegiance and the
oath for the due execution of his office that is set out in the 
Schedule to this Constitution.
92 

(1) Where any question as to the interpretation
of this Constitution arises in any proceedings in any subordinate court and
the court is of the opinion that the question involves a substantial question
of law, the court may, and shall if any party to the proceedings so requests,
refer the question to the Supreme Court.
(2) Where any question is referred to the
Supreme Court in pursuance of this section, the Supreme Court shall give its
decision upon the question and the court in which the question arose shall
dispose of the case in accordance with that decision or, if that decision
is the subject of an appeal under section 99
 of this Constitution to the Court of Appeal
or to the Judicial Committee, in accordance with the decision of the Court
of Appeal or, as the case may be, the Judicial Committee.
PART 2
93 

(1) There shall be a Court of Appeal which
shall have such jurisdiction and powers as may be conferred on it by this
Constitution or any other law.
(2) The judges of the Court of Appeal shall
be—
(a) the President;
(b) such number, if any, of other judges
as may be prescribed by Parliament:Provided that the office of a judge of the Court of Appeal
shall not be abolished while there is a substantive holder thereof; and
(c) the Chief Justice and other judges of
the Supreme Court ex officio.
(3) The Court of Appeal shall be a superior
court of record and, save as otherwise provided by Parliament, shall have
all the powers of such a court.
94 

(1) The President of the Court of Appeal
shall be appointed by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the
advice of the Prime Minister.
(2) The judges referred to in 
section 93(2)(b) of this Constitution shall
be appointed by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice
of the Judicial Service Commission.
(3) 
(a) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed as a judge of the Court of Appeal unless—
(i) he holds or has held office as a judge
of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in
some part of the Commonwealth or in any country outside the Commonwealth that
may be specified by Parliament or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from
such a court; or
(ii) he holds one of the specified qualifications
and has held one or other of those qualifications for a total period of not
less than seven years.
(b) In this subsection 
“the specified qualifications” means the professional qualifications specified under the Courts Ordinance
1964 (or by or under any law amending or replacing that Ordinance) one of
which must be held by any person before he may apply under that Ordinance
(or under any such law) to be admitted to practise as a barrister or a solicitor
in The Gambia.
(4) If the office of President of the Court
of Appeal is vacant or the President is for any reason unable to exercise
the functions of his office, then, until a person has been appointed to and
has assumed the functions of that office or until the person holding that
office has resumed those functions, as the case may be, they shall be exercised
by such one of the other judges of the Court as may for the time being be
designated in that behalf by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with
the advice of the Prime Minister.
(5) If the office of any judge of the Court
of Appeal other than the President is vacant or if any such judge is acting
as President or is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his office
or if the President advises the Governor-General that the state of business
in the Court of Appeal so requires, the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, may appoint a person who
is qualified to be appointed as a judge of the Court of Appeal to act as a
judge:Provided that a person may act as a judge notwithstanding
that he has attained the age prescribed for the purposes of 
section 95(1) of this Constitution.
(6) Any person appointed under subsection
(5) of this section to act as a judge of the Court of Appeal shall, subject
to the provisions of sections 95(4)
and 95(7) of this Constitution,
continue to act for the period of his appointment or, if no such period is
specified, until his appointment is revoked by the Governor-General, acting
in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission:Provided that, notwithstanding the expiration of the period
of his appointment or the revocation of his appointment, he may thereafter
continue to act as a judge of the Court of Appeal for so long as may be necessary
to enable him to deliver judgment or to do any other thing in relation to
proceedings that were commenced before him previously thereto.
95 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section,
a person holding the office of a judge of the Court of Appeal shall vacate
that office when he attains the prescribed age.
(2) Notwithstanding that he has attained
the age prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, a person
holding the office of a judge of the Court of Appeal may continue in office
for so long after attaining that age as may be necessary to enable him to
deliver judgment or to do any other thing in relation to proceedings that
were commenced before him before he attained that age.
(3) A person holding the office of a judge
of the Court of Appeal may be removed from office only for inability to exercise
the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind
or any other cause) or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except
in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(4) A judge of the Court of Appeal shall
be removed from office by the Governor-General if the question of his removal
has been referred by the Governor-General to the Judicial Committee under
subsection (5) of this section and the Judicial Committee has advised the
Governor-General that the judge ought to be removed from office for inability
as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(5) If the Prime Minister or, in the case
of a judge other than the President, the President represents to the Governor-General
that the question of removing a judge under this section ought to be investigated,
then—
(a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members,
selected in accordance with the provisions of subsection (6) of this section
from among persons who hold or have held office as a judge of a court having
unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth
or in any country outside the Commonwealth that may be prescribed by Parliament
or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from such a court;
(b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to the
Governor-General whether the question of the removal of that judge from office
should be referred by him to the Judicial Committee; and
(c) if the tribunal so recommends, the Governor-General
shall refer the question to the Judicial Committee which shall advise the
Governor-General thereon.
(6) When the question of removing the President
is to be investigated the members of the tribunal shall be selected by the
Chief Justice, and when the question of removing any other judge is to be
investigated they shall be selected by the President.
(7) If the question of removing a judge from
office has been referred to a tribunal under subsection (5) of this section,
the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister
in the case of the President and in accordance with the advice of the President
in the case of any other judge, may suspend the judge from exercising the
functions of his office and any such suspension may at any time be revoked
by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with such advice as aforesaid,
and shall in any case cease to have effect—
(a) if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General
that the question of the removal of the judge from office should not be referred
to the Judicial Committee; or
(b) if the Judicial Committee advises the
Governor-General that the judge ought not to be removed from office.
(8) The prescribed age for the purposes of
subsection (1) of this section is the age of sixty-two years or such other
age as may be prescribed by Parliament:Provided that—
(a) in relation to a person who also holds
such office of judge of a court in a country other than The Gambia as may
be prescribed by Parliament for the purposes of this paragraph, the prescribed
age shall, subject to the provisions of paragraph (
b) of this proviso, be the age at which, under the law of that
other country, he is required to vacate that office; and
(b) an Act of Parliament or the law of another
country, to the extent to which it alters the prescribed age after the appointment
of a person to be or to act as a judge of the Court of Appeal, shall not have
effect in relation to that person unless he consents that it should have effect.

96 
A judge of the Court of Appeal shall not enter upon the
duties of his office until he has taken and subscribed the oath of allegiance
and the oath for the due execution of his office that is set out in the Schedule
to this Constitution.
97 
The Court of
Appeal shall, when determining any matter other than an interlocutory matter,
be composed of an uneven number of judges, not being less than three.
PART 3
98 

(1) Parliament may establish courts subordinate
to the Supreme Court and courts-martial, and any such court shall, subject
to the provisions of this Constitution, have such jurisdiction and powers
as may be conferred on it by any law.
(2) The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction
to supervise any civil or criminal proceedings before any subordinate court
or any court-martial and may make such orders, issue such writs and give such
directions as it may consider appropriate for the purpose of ensuring that
justice is duly administered by any such court.
(3) The Chief Justice may make rules with
respect to the practice and procedure of the Supreme Court in relation to
the jurisdiction and powers conferred on it by subsection (2) of this section.

PART 4
99 

(1) Subject to the provisions of 
section 46(6) of this Constitution, an appeal
shall lie as of right to the Court of Appeal from decisions of the Supreme
Court in the following cases, that is to say:—
(a) final decisions in any civil or criminal
proceedings on questions as to the interpretation of this Constitution; and

(b) final decisions given in exercise of
the jurisdiction conferred on the Supreme Court by 
section 26 of this Constitution (which relates
to the enforcement of fundamental rights and freedoms);and an appeal shall lie as of right direct to the Judicial Committee
from any decision of the Court of Appeal in any such case.
(2) In this section—
(a) references to final decisions of the
Supreme Court shall be construed as including references to decisions given
in pursuance of section 26(4)
or section 92(2) of this
Constitution; and
(b) references to decisions of the Court
of Appeal in any cases specified in subsection (1) of this section shall be
construed as including references to decisions given by that Court on appeal
from decisions of the Supreme Court in any such cases.
100 

(1) Subject to the provisions of 
section 46(6) of this Constitution, an appeal
shall lie as of right to the Court of Appeal from any decision given by the
Supreme Court in any of the cases to which this subsection applies and to
the Judicial Committee from any decision given in any such case by the Court
of Appeal.
(2) The cases to which subsection (1) of
this section applies are—
(a) final decisions in any civil proceedings
where the matter in dispute on the appeal is of the value of £500 or
upwards or where the appeal involves directly or indirectly a claim to or
question respecting property or a right of the value of £500 or upwards;

(b) final decisions in proceedings for dissolution
or nullity of marriage; and
(c) such other cases as may be prescribed
by Parliament.
(3) Subject to the provisions of 
section 46(6) of this Constitution, an appeal
shall lie, with the leave of the Court that gave the decision, from the Supreme
Court to the Court of Appeal and from the Court of Appeal to the Judicial
Committee in the following cases, that is to say:—
(a) decisions in any civil proceedings where,
in the opinion of the court that gave the decision, the question involved
in the appeal is one that, by reason of its great general or public importance
or otherwise, ought to be submitted to the Court of Appeal or to the Judicial
Committee, as the case may be; and
(b) such other cases as may be prescribed
by Parliament.
(4) An appeal shall lie to the Judicial Committee
with the special leave of the Committee from any decision given by the Court
of Appeal in any civil or criminal matter.
101 

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(2) of this section, an appeal shall lie as of right to the Supreme Court
from final decisions given by any subordinate court or a court-martial in
any civil or criminal proceedings on questions as to the interpretation of
this Constitution (not being questions that have been referred to the Supreme
Court in pursuance of section 92(1)
of this Constitution) or as to the contravention of any of the provisions
of sections 11 to 25
(inclusive) of this Constitution (not being questions that have been referred
to the Supreme Court in pursuance of section
26(3) of this Constitution).
(2) An appeal from a decision given by a
subordinate court or a court-martial in any of the cases referred to in subsection
(1) of this section—
(a) shall not lie direct to the Court of
Appeal; and
(b) shall not lie direct to the Supreme Court
if, under any law—
(i) an appeal lies as of right from that
decision to another subordinate court or court-martial; or
(ii) an appeal lies from that decision to
another subordinate court or court-martial with the leave of the court that
gave the decision or of some other court and that leave has not been withheld.

(3) An appeal shall lie as of right to the
Supreme Court from final decisions given by any subordinate court in any case
in which, if the decision of the subordinate court were a decision of the
Supreme Court, an appeal would lie as of right to the Court of Appeal under 
section 100 of this Constitution:Provided that—
(a) an appeal shall not lie to the Supreme
Court from a decision given by a subordinate court in any such case if, under
any law—
(i) an appeal lies as of right from that
decision to the Court of Appeal; or
(ii) an appeal lies from that decision to
the Court of Appeal with the leave of the court that gave the decision or
of some other court and that leave has not been withheld; and
(b) an appeal shall not lie direct to the
Court of Appeal or direct to the Supreme Court from a decision given by a
subordinate court in any such case if, under any law—
(i) an appeal lies as of right from that
decision to another subordinate court; or
(ii) an appeal lies from that decision to
another subordinate court with the leave of the court that gave the decision
or of some other court and that leave has not been withheld.
(4) An appeal shall lie from a subordinate
court or a court-martial to—
(a) the Supreme Court; or
(b) the Court of Appealin such cases (other than the cases referred to in subsection (1)
or subsection (3) of this section) as may be prescribed by any law.
102 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter,
provision may be made by or under an Act of Parliament regulating the procedure
to be adopted by the Court of Appeal with respect to any appeal to the Judicial
Committee under this Chapter or by the parties to any such appeal.
(2) Any decision given by the Judicial Committee
in any appeal under this Chapter shall be enforced in like manner as if it
were a decision of the Court of Appeal.
(3) The Judicial Committee shall, in relation
to any appeal to it under this Chapter in any case, have all the jurisdiction
and powers possessed in relation to that case by the Court of Appeal.
PART 5
103 

(1) There shall be a Judicial Service Commission
which shall consist of—
(a) the Chief Justice, as Chairman;
(b) the Chairman of the Public Service Commission;
and
(c) a member who shall be styled the appointed
member and who shall be appointed by the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Chief Justice.
(2) A person shall not be qualified to be
the appointed member of the Commission if—
(a) he is, or has at any time during the
five years immediately preceding his appointment been, a member of the House
of Representatives or a member of any House of Representatives established
for The Gambia by Order of Her Majesty in Council before the coming into operation
of this Constitution (other than a nominated or an ex officio
member or a temporary member appointed in place of such a member);
(b) he is, or has at any time during the
said five years been, nominated as a candidate for election as a member of
the House of Representatives or of any such House of Representatives established
as aforesaid;
(c) he is, or has at any time during the
said five years been, the holder of an office in any political organisation
that sponsors or otherwise supports, or that has at any time sponsored or
otherwise supported, a candidate for election as a member of the House of
Representatives or of any such House of Representatives established as aforesaid
or of any local government authority; or
(d) he is a public officer.
(3) The appointed member of the Commission
shall not, within the period of three years commencing with the day on which
he last held or acted in the office of member of the Commission, be eligible
for appointment to or to act in any public office other than an office to
which section 109
of this Constitution applies.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section,
the office of the appointed member of the Commission shall become vacant—

(a) at the expiration of three years from
the date of his appointment; or
(b) if any circumstances arise that, if he
were not the appointed member of the Commission, would cause him to be disqualified
to be appointed as such under subsection (2) of this section.
(5) The appointed member of the Commission
may be removed from office only for inability to exercise the functions of
his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause)
or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in accordance with
the provisions of this section.
(6) The appointed member of the Commission
shall be removed from office by the Governor-General if the question of his
removal from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection
(7) of this section and the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General
that he ought to be removed from office for inability as aforesaid or for
misbehaviour.
(7) If the Chief Justice represents to the
Governor-General that the question of removing the appointed member of the
Commission under this section ought to be investigated, then—
(a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members,
selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have held office
as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal
matters in some part of the Commonwealth or in any country outside the Commonwealth
that may be prescribed by Parliament or a court having jurisdiction in appeals
from such a court; and
(b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the fact thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the appointed member ought to be removed under this section.
(8) If the question of removing the appointed
member of the Commission has been referred to a tribunal under this section,
the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Chief Justice,
may suspend that member from the exercise of the functions of his office and
any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the Governor-General, acting
in accordance with such advice as aforesaid, and shall in any case cease to
have effect if the tribunal recommends to Governor-General that that member
should not be removed.
(9) If the office of the appointed member
of the Commission vacant or if the person holding that office is for any reason
unable to exercise the functions of his office, the Governor-General, for
acting accordance with the advice of the Chief Justice, may appoint a person
who is qualified to be the appointed member to act as that member and any
person so appointed shall, subject to the provisions of section (4) of this
section, continue to act until the office in which, he is acting is filled
or, as the case may be, until the holder thereof resumed his functions or
until his appointment to act is revoked by the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Chief Justice.
(10) The appointed member of the Commission
shall not enter upon the duties of his office until he has taken and subscribed
the oath of allegiance and the oath for the due execution of his office that
is out in the Schedule to this Constitution.
(11) In the exercise of its functions under
this Constitution Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control
of other person or authority.
(12) The Commission may by regulation or
otherwise regulate its own procedure and, with the consent of the Prime Minister,
may confer powers or impose duties on any public officer or on any authority
of the Government of The Gambia for the purpose of the exercise of its functions.

(13) The Commission may, subject to its rules
of procedure, act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership or the absence
of any member and its proceedings shall not be invalidated by the presence
or participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate
in those proceedings:Provided that any decision of the Commission shall require
the concurrence of a majority of all its members.
104 

(1) The power to appoint persons to hold
or act in any offices to which 0 applies (including the power to confirm appointments),
the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting
in such offices and the power to remove such persons from office shall vest
in the Judicial Service Commission.
(2) The Judicial Service Commission may,
by directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit,
delegate any of its powers under subsection (1) of this section to any one
or more of its members or to any judge of the Supreme Court or to any person
holding or acting in an office to which this section applies.
(3) The offices to which this section applies
are—
(a) the office of Registrar or Assistant
Registrar of the Supreme Court;
(b) the office of magistrate;
(c) subject to the provisions of subsection
(4) of this section, the office of member of any subordinate court (other
than the court of any magistrate who is authorised, by or under any law, to
hold such a court by virtue of his holding or acting in any other public office
and other than a court whose jurisdiction is limited to members of an African
race and which has jurisdiction only in the former Protectorate); or
(d) subject as aforesaid, such other offices
of member of any court or connected with any court as may be prescribed by
Parliament.
(4) Where provision is made by or under any
law for the appointment of assessors to assist or take part in the decision
of the court in any case, the power to appoint persons to be such assessors,
the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons so appointed and the
power to remove such persons from office shall vest in the judge presiding
over the court in that case.
CHAPTER VIII
105 

(1) There shall be a Public Service Commission
which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two nor more than four
other members, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(2) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed as a member of the Commission if—
(a) he is, or has at any time during the
five years immediately preceding his appointment been, a member of the House
of Representatives or a member of any House of Representatives established
for The Gambia by Order of Her Majesty in Council before the coming into operation
of this Constitution (other than a nominated or an ex officio
member or a temporary member appointed in place of such a member);
(b) he is, or has at any time during the
said five years been, nominated as a candidate for election as a member of
the House of Representatives or of any such House of Representatives established
as aforesaid;
(c) he is, or has at any time during the
said five years been, the holder of an office in any political organisation
that sponsors or otherwise supports, or that has at any time sponsored or
otherwise supported, a candidate for election as a member of the House of
Representatives or of any such House of Representatives established as aforesaid
or of any local government authority; or
(d) he is a public officer.
(3) A member of the Commission shall not,
within the period of three years commencing with the day on which he last
held or acted in the office of member of the Commission, be eligible for appointment
to or to act in any public office other than an office to which 
section 109 of this Constitution applies.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section,
the office of a member of the Commission shall become vacant—
(a) at the expiration of three years from
the date of his appointment; or
(b) if any circumstances arise that, if he
were not a member of the Commission, would cause him to be disqualified to
be appointed as such under subsection (2) of this section.
(5) A member of the Commission may be removed
from office only for inability to exercise the functions of his office (whether
arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for misbehaviour
and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions this
section.
(6) A member of the Commission shall be removed
from office the Governor-General if the question of his removal from office
been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (7) of section and
the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General he ought to be removed
from office for inability as aforesaid or misbehaviour.
(7) If the Prime Minister represents to the
Governor-General the question of removing a member of the Commission under
section ought to be investigated, then—
(a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall co of a Chairman and not less than two other members,
selected by Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have held office
as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal
matters in some part of the Commonwealth or in any country outside the Commonwealth
that may be prescribed by Parliament or a court having jurisdiction in appeals
from such a court; and
(b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the member ought to be removed under this section.
(8) If the question of removing a member
of the Commission has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister,
may suspend that member from the exercise of the functions of his office and
any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the Governor-General, acting
in accordance with such advice as aforesaid, and shall in any case cease to
have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General that that member
should not be removed.
(9) If the office of Chairman of the Commission
is vacant or if the person holding that office is for any reason unable to
exercise the functions of his office, then, until a person has been appointed
to and has assumed the functions of that office or until the person holding
that office has resumed those functions, as the case may be, they shall be
exercised by such one of the other members of the Commission as may for the
time being be designated in that behalf by the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(10) If at any time there are less than two
members of the Commission besides the Chairman or if any such member is acting
as Chairman or is for any reason unable to exercise the functions of his office,
the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister,
may appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed as a member of the Commission
to act as a member, and any person so appointed shall, subject to the provisions
of subsection (4) of this section, ontinue to act until the office in which
he is acting has been filled or, as the case may be, until the holder thereof
has resumed his functions or until his appointment to act has been revoked
by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister.
(11) A member of the Commission shall not
enter upon the duties of his office until he has taken and subscribed the
oath of allegiance and the oath for the due execution of his office that is
set out in the Schedule to this Constitution.
(12) The Commission shall, in the exercise
of its functions under this Constitution, not be subject to the direction
or control of any other person or authority.
(13) The Commission may be regulation or
otherwise regulate its own procedure and, with the consent of the Prime Minister,
may confer powers or impose duties on any public officer or on any authority
of the Government of The Gambia for the purpose of the exercise of its functions.

(14) The Commission may, subject to its rules
of procedure, act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership or the absence
of any member and its proceedings shall not be invalidated by the presence
or participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate
in those proceedings:Provided that any decision of the Commission shall require
the concurrence of a majority of all its members.
106 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution,
the power to appoint persons to hold or act in offices in the public service
(including the power to confirm appointments), the power to exercise disciplinary
control over persons holding or acting in such offices and the power to remove
such persons from office shall vest in the Public Service Commission.
(2) The Public Service Commission may, by
directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, delegate
any of its powers under subsection (1) of this section to any one or more
members of the Commission or, with the consent of the Prime Minister, to any
public officer.
(3) The provisions of this section shall
not apply in relation to following offices, that is to the say:—
(a) the office of a judge of the Court of
Appeal or of the Supreme Court;
(b) the office of Director of Public Prosecutions;

(c) the office of Director of Audit;
(d) any office to which 
section 104 of this Constitution (which relates
to offices within the jurisdiction of the Judicial Service Commission applies;

(e) any office to which 
section 109 of this Constitution (which relates
to the offices of the principal representatives of The Gambia abroad) applies;

(f) the office of permanent secretary or
Secretary to the Cabinet for Establishment Secretary; or
(g) any office in the Police Force.
(4) No person shall be appointed under this
section to or to act in any office on the Governor-General's personal staff
except with the concurrence of the Governor-General.
(5) Before any of the powers conferred by
this section in relation to the Clerk of the House of Representatives or a
member of his staff are exercised by the Public Service Commission or any
other person or authority, the Commission or that person or authority shall
consult with the Speaker of the House.
(6) Before the Public Service Commission
or any other person or authority exercises its powers under this section to
appoint to or to act in any public office any person who holds or is acting
in any office the power to make appointments to which is vested by this Constitution
in the Judicial Service Commission, the Public Service Commission or that
person or authority shall consult with the Judicial Service Commission.
(7) A public officer shall not be removed
from office or subjected to any other punishment under this section on the
grounds of any act done or omitted by him in the exercise of a judicial function
conferred on him unless the Judicial Service Commission concurs therein.
107 

(1) The Director of Public Prosecutions shall
be appointed by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice
of the Public Service Commission.
(2) If the office of Director of Public Prosecutions
is vacant or if the Director of Public Prosecutions is for any reason unable
to exercise the functions of his office, the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Public Service Commission, may appoint a person to
act as Director of Public Prosecutions, and any person so appointed shall,
subject to the provisions of subsections (4), (6) and (8) of this section,
continue to act until a person has been appointed to the office of Director
of Public Prosecutions and has assumed the functions of that office or, as
the case may be, until the person in whose place he is acting has resumed
those functions.
(3) (a) A person shall not be qualified to
be appointed to hold or act in the office of Director of Public Prosecutions
unless he holds one of the specified qualifications and has held one or other
of those qualifications for a total period of not less than seven years.
(b) In this subsection 
“the specified qualifications” means the professional qualifications specified under the Courts Ordinance
1964 (or by or under
any law amending or replacing that Ordinance) one of which must be held by
any person before he may apply under that Ordinance (or under any such law)
to be admitted to practise as a barrister or a solicitor in The Gambia.

(4) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(6) of this section, the Director of Public Prosecutions shall vacate his
office when he attains the prescribed age.
(5) A person holding the office of Director
of Public Prosecutions may be removed from office only for inability to exercise
the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind
or any other cause) or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except
in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(6) The Director of Public Prosecutions shall
be removed from office by the Governor-General if the question of his removal
from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (7)
of this section nd the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General that
he ought to be removed for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(7) If the Prime Minister or the Chairman
of the Public Service Commission represents to the Governor-General that the
question of removing the Director of Public Prosecutions under this section
ought to be investigated, then—
(a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members,
selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have held office
as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal
matters in some part of the Commonwealth or in any country outside the Commonwealth
that may be prescribed by Parliament or a court having jurisdiction in appeals
from such a court; and
(b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the Director of Public Prosecutions ought to be removed under this
section.
(8) If the question of removing the Director
of Public Prosecutions has been referred to a tribunal under this section,
the Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service
Commission may suspend the Director of Public Prosecutions from the exercise
the functions of his office and any such suspension may at any the be revoked
by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with advice as aforesaid, and
shall in any case cease to have effect if tribunal recommends to the Governor-General
that the Director of Public Prosecutions should not be removed.
(9) The prescribed age for the purposes of
subsection (4) of section is the age of fifty-five years or such other age
as may prescribed by Parliament:Provided that an Act of Parliament, to the extent to which
it alter the prescribed age after a person has been appointed to be or to
as Director of Public Prosecutions, shall not have effect in relative to that
person unless he consents that it should have effect.
108 

(1) The Director of Audit shall be appointed
by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Public
Service Commission.
(2) If the office of Director of Audit is
vacant or if the Director Audit is for any reason unable to exercise the functions
of his office the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of
Public Service Commission, may appoint a person to act as Director of Audit,
and any person so appointed shall, subject to the provision of subsections
(4), (6) and (8) of this section, continue to act until person has been appointed
to the office of Director of Audit and assumed the functions of that office
or, as the case may be, until person in whose place he is acting has resumed
those functions.
(3) Before tendering advice for the purposes
of subsection (1) subsection (2) of this section, the Public Service Commission
shall consult the Prime Minister.
(4) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(6) of this section, Director of Audit shall vacate his office when he attains
the prescribed age.
(5) A person holding the office of Director
of Audit may be remove from office only for inability to exercise the functions
of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other
cause or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in accordance
with the provisions of this section.
(6) The Director of Audit shall be removed
from office by Governor-General if the question of his removal from office
has be referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (7) of this section
all the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General that he ought to
be removed for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(7) If the Prime Minister or the Chairman
of the Public Service Commission represents to the Governor-General that the
question removing the Director of Audit under this section ought to be investigated,
then—
(a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall construction of a Chairman and not less than two other
members, selected the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have held
office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal
matters in some part of the Commonwealth or in any country outside the Commonwealth
that may be prescribed by Parliament or a court having jurisdiction in appeals
from such a court; and
(b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the Director of Audit ought to be removed under this section.
(8) If the question of removing the Director
of Audit has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the Governor-General,
acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission, may
suspend the Director of Audit from the exercise of the functions of his office
and any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the Governor-General,
acting in accordance with such advice as aforesaid, and shall in any case
cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General that
the Director of Audit should not be removed.
(9) The prescribed age for the purposes of
subsection (4) of this section is the age of fifty-five years or such other
age as may be prescribed by Parliament:Provided that an Act of Parliament, to the extent to which
it alters the prescribed age after a person has been appointed to be or to
act as Director of Audit, shall not have effect in relation to that person
unless he consents that it should have effect.
109 

(1) The power to appoint persons to hold
or act in offices to which this section applies and to remove from office
persons holding or acting in such offices shall vest in the Governor-General,
acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(2) Before tendering advice for the purposes
of this section in relation to any person who holds any office in the public
service, other than an office to which this section applies, the Prime Minister
shall consult the Public Service Commission.
(3) The offices to which this section applies
are the offices of Ambassador, High Commissioner or other principal representative
of The Gambia in any other country or accredited to any international organisation.

110 

(1) The power to appoint a person to hold
or act in the office of permanent secretary or Secretary to the Cabinet or
Establishment Secretary and to remove from office a person holding or acting
in any such office shall vest in the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(2) Before tendering advice for the purposes
of this section, the Prime Minister shall consult the Public Service Commission.

(3) In this section and in 
section 106(3)(f) of this Constitution “the Establishment Secretary” means the public officer who is for the time being in charge of staff
and establishment matters in respect of the public service and who is directly
responsible therefor to the Minister for the time being responsible for the
public service.
111 

(1) The power to appoint a person to hold
or act in the of Commissioner of Police and the power to remove the Commissioner
of Police from office shall vest in the Governor-General, acting accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister:Provided that, before tendering advice for the, purposes
of subsection, the Prime Minister shall consult the Public Service Commission.

(2) The power to appoint persons to hold
or act in offices in the Police Force below the rank of Commissioner of Police
but above the rank of Chief Inspector (including the power to confirm appointments),
the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting
in such offices and the power to remove such persons from office shall vest
in the Public Service Commission.
(3) The Public Service Commission may, by
directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, delegate
any of in powers under subsection (2) of this section to any one or more of
its members or, with the consent of the Prime Minister, to the Commissioner
of Police or to any other member of the Police Force.
(4) The power to appoint persons to hold
or act in offices in the Police Force of or below the rank of Chief Inspector
(including the power to confirm appointments), the power to exercise disciplinary
control over persons holding or acting in such offices and the power to remove
such persons from office shall vest in the Commissioner of Police.
(5) The Commissioner of Police may, by directions
given in such manner as he thinks fit and subject to such conditions as he
thinks fit, delegate any of his powers under subsection (4) of this section
to any other member of the Police Force.
(6) Parliament may
provide that where the power to exercise disciplinary control over any member
of the Police Force (including the power to remove him from office) has been
exercised under subsection (4) or subsection (5) of this section by any member
of the Police Force (hereinafter referred to as 
“the disciplinary authority”), the
member of the Police Force in respect of whom it was so exercised may appeal
from the decision of the disciplinary authority to the Public Service Commission:
Provided that Parliament or (in the case of the exercise
of a power under subsection (5) of this section) the Commissioner of Police
may require appeals to be made to a member of the Police Force of higher rank
than the disciplinary authority before they are made to the Public Service
Commission.
(7) In this section 
“Commissioner of Police” means 
the office by whatever name called, commanding the Police Force.

(8) If provision is made by or under any
law—
(a) altering the ranks into which The Gambia
Police Force established by the Police Ordinance is divided; or
(b) establishing a police force other than
The Gambia Police Force or altering the ranks into which any such other police
force divided,the Public Service Commission may, by order published in Official
Gazette, specify some rank (other than the rank of Chief Inspector) in The
Gambia Police Force or, as the case may be, in that other police force as
being equivalent to the rank of Chief Inspector as it exists in The Gambia
Police Force under the law in force immediately before the coming into operation
of this Constitution and the references in subsections (2) and (4) of this
section to the rank of Chief Inspector shall then be construed as if they
were, in relation to The Gambia Police Force or, as the case may be, in relation
to that other police force, references to the rank for the time being so specified.

112 

(1) The law to be applied with respect to
any pensions benefits that were granted to any person before 18th February
1965 shall be the law that was in force at the date on which those benefits
were granted or any law in force at a later date that is not less favourable
to that person.
(2) The law to be applied with respect to
any pensions benefits (not being benefits to which subsection (1) of this
section applies) shall—
(a) in so far as those benefits are wholly
in respect of a period of service as a public officer that commenced before
18th February 1965, be the law that was in force on 17th February 1965; and

(b) in so far as those benefits are wholly
or partly in respect of a period of service as a public officer that commenced
after 17th February 1965, be the law in force on the date on which that period
of service commenced,or any law in force at a later date that is not less favourable
to that person.
(3) Where a person is entitled to exercise
an option as to which of two or more laws shall apply in his case, the law
for which he opts shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be
more favourable to him than the other law or laws.
(4) All pensions benefits shall (except to
the extent to which, in the case of benefits under the Widows' and Orphans'
Pensions Ordinance or under any law amending or replacing that Ordinance
or under any other law providing for the funding of pensions benefits, they
are a charge on a fund established by that Ordinance or by any such law and
have been duly paid out of that fund to the person or authority to whom payment
is due) be a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
(5) All sums that, under the Widows' and
Orphans' Pensions Ordinance or under any law amending or replacing that Ordinance
or under any other law providing for the funding of pensions benefits, are
to be paid by the Government of The Gambia into any fund established by that
Ordinance or by any such law or are otherwise to be paid by the Government
of The Gambia for the purposes of that Ordinance or any such law shall be
a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
(6) In this section 
“pensions benefits” means 
any pensions, compensation, gratuities or other like allowances for persons
in respect of their service as public officers or for the widows, children,
dependants or personal representatives of such persons in respect of such
service.
(7) References in this section to the law
with respect to pension benefits include (without prejudice to their generality)
references to the law regulating the circumstances in which such benefits
may be grants or in which the grant of such benefits may be refused, the regulating
the circumstances in which any such benefits that shall been granted may be
withheld, reduced in amount or suspended the law regulating the amount of
any such benefits.
113 

(1) Where under any law any person or authority
has discretion—
(a) to decide whether or not any pensions
benefits shall be granted or
(b) to withhold, reduce in amount or suspend
any such benefit that have been granted,those benefits shall be granted and may not be withheld, reduced
amount or suspended unless the Public Service Commission con in the refusal
to grant the benefits or, as the case may be, in decision to withhold them,
reduce them in amount or suspend the
(2) Where the amount of any pensions benefits
that may be granted to any person is not fixed by law, the amount of the benefits
to granted to him shall be the greatest amount for which he is eligible unless
the Public Service Commission concurs in his being granted benefits of a smaller
amount.
(3) The Public Service Commission shall not
concur under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section in any action
taken on ground that any person who holds or has held the office of judge
the Court of Appeal, judge of the Supreme Court, Director of Public Prosecutions
or Director of Audit has been guilty of misbehaviour that office unless he
has been removed from that office by reason such misbehaviour.
(4) Before the Public Service Commission
concurs under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section in any action
taken on the group that any person who holds or has held any office to which
at time of such action, section 104
of this Constitution applies has be guilty of misbehaviour in that office,
the Public Service Commission shall consult the Judicial Service Commission.

(5) In this section 
“pensions benefits” means 
any pensions, compensation, gratuities or other like allowances for persons
in respect of their service as public officers or for the widows, children,
dependants or personal representatives of such persons in respect of service
.
CHAPTER IX
114 

(1) Any person who is appointed, elected
or otherwise section to any office established by this Constitution or any
office of Minister established under this Constitution may resign from that
office writing under his hand addressed to the person or authority by he was
appointed, elected or otherwise selected:Provided that—
(a) the resignation of a person from the
office of Speaker or Department Speaker of the House of Representatives shall
be addressed to House; and
(b) the resignation of any person from the
office of member of the House of Representatives shall be addressed to the
Speaker of the House.
(2) The resignation of any person from any
such office as aforesaid shall take effect when the writing signifying the
resignation is received by the person or authority to whom it is addressed
or any person authorised by that person or authority to receive it.
115 

(1) Where any person has vacated any office
established by this Constitution or any office of Minister established under
this Constitution, he may, if qualified, again be appointed, elected or otherwise
selected to hold that office in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

(2) Where this Constitution vests in any
person or authority the power to make any appointment to any office, a person
may be appointed to that office, notwithstanding that some other person may
be holding that office, when that other person is on leave of absence pending
the relinquishment of the office; and where two or more persons are holding
the same office by reason of an appointment made in pursuance of this subsection,
then, for the purposes of any function conferred upon the holder of that office,
the person last appointed shall be deemed to be the sold holder of the office.

116 

(1) In this Constitution, unless the context
otherwise requires—
 “the Commonwealth”
means The Gambia, any country to which 
section 6 of this Constitution applies and
any dependency of any such country;
 “financial year”
means the period of twelve months ending on 30th June
in any year or on such other day as Parliament may prescribe:
Provided that whenever Parliament alters the day on which the financial year
ends, it shall provide either—
(a) that the period beginning at the end
of the last complete financial year under the law in force before the alteration
takes effect and ending with the beginning of the first complete financial
year under the law in force after the alteration takes effect shall be added
to either of those years (as Parliament prescribes) and that the aggregate
period, though greater than twelve months, shall be reckoned as one financial
year; or
(b) that the period beginning and ending
as aforesaid, though less than twelve months, shall itself be reckoned as
a complete financial year;
 “the former Protectorate”
 means the territory that, on 17th February
1965, was comprised in the Protectorate of The Gambia;
 “The Gambia”
means the territory that, on 17th February 1965, was
comprised in the Colony of The Gambia and the former Protectorate;

 “Head Chief”, “Deputy Head Chief”, “Sub-Chief” and 
“Headman” have the same meaning
as in the Protectorate Ordinance;
 “the Judicial Committee”
 means the Judicial Committee or Privy
Council established by the Judicial Committee
Act 1833 from time to time amended by any Act
of the Parliament of United Kingdom;
 “law” includes—
(a) any instrument
having the force of law made in exercise a power conferred by a law; and
(b) native law and custom and any
other unwritten rule law, and “lawful”
and “lawfully” shall be construed accordingly;
 “oath” includes affirmation;
 “the Police Force”
means the Gambia Police Force establish by the Police
Ordinance
and includes any other police force established by or under an Act of Parliament
to succeed to supplement the functions of the Gambia Police Force
but does save in the definition of a “disciplined
force” in section 28(1)
 of Constitution, include
any police force forming part of any military or air force or any police force
for the protection of ha waterways, railways or air fields or any police force
established any local government authority;
 “public office”
means any office of emolument in the public service
;
 “public officer”
means a person holding or acting in any public office
;
 “the public service”
 means, subject to the provision of section,
the service of the Crown in respect of the government The Gambia;

 “session”
means the period beginning when the House of Representatives
first meets after 17th February 1965 or after Parliament at any time been
prorogued or dissolved and ending when Parliament is prorogued or when Parliament
is dissolved without having be prorogued;
 “sitting”
means the period during which the House of Representative
is sitting continuously without adjournment and includes period during which
it is in committee;
 “subordinate court”
means any court of law established for Gambia other
than—
(a) the Judicial Committee;
(b) the Court of Appeal;
(c) the Supreme Court; or
(d) a court-martial; and
 “voting member” has the meaning assigned to that expression 
section 33(2) of this Constitution.

(2) In this Constitution, unless the context
otherwise require references to offices in the public service shall be construed
as including references to the offices of judges of the Court of Appeal judges
of the Supreme Court and the offices of members of all ordinate courts (being
offices the emoluments attaching to which, any part of the emoluments attaching
to which, are paid directly of monies provided by Parliament) but not as including
references by office that, by virtue of subsection
(3)(c) of section 104 of this Constitution,
is excluded from the offices to which that section applies to the office of
assessor in any court.
(3) In this Constitution references to an
office in the public service all not be construed as including—
(a) references to the office of the Speaker
or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister or any
other Minister, a member of the Cabinet, a Parliamentary Secretary or a member
of the House of Representatives;
(b) references to the office of a member
of any Commission established by this Constitution or a member of the Advisory
Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy;
(c) save in so far as may be provided by
Parliament, references to the office of a member of any other council, board,
panel, committee or other similar body (whether incorporated or not) established
by or under any law;
(d) references to the office of Head Chief,
Deputy Head Chief, Sub-Chief or Headman;
(e) references to the office of any District
Authority or member of any District Authority declared to be, or established
as, such an Authority under the District Authority Ordinance or (to
the extent to which any such law makes provision for the administration of
Districts within the former Protectorate) by or under any law for the time
being amending or replacing that Ordinance; or
(f) except for the purposes of 
sections 37(3)(d), 103(2)(d), 
103(3), 105(2)(d)
and 105(3) of this Constitution
(which relate to disqualification for election or appointment to certain offices),
references to an office in a naval, military or air force.
(4) For the purposes of this Constitution,
a person shall not be regarded as holding an office by reason only of the
fact that he is in receipt of a pension or other like allowance.
(5) In this Constitution, unless the context
otherwise requires, a reference to the holder of an office by the term designating
his office shall be construed as including, to the extent of his authority,
a reference to any person for the time being authorised to exercise the functions
of that office.
(6) Except in the case where this Constitution
provides for the holder of any office thereunder to be such person holding
or acting in any other office as may for the time being be designated in that
behalf by come specified person or authority, no person may, without his consent,
be nominated for election to any such office or be appointed to or to act
therein or otherwise be selected therefor.
(7) References in this Constitution to the
power to remove a public officer from his office shall be construed as including
references to any power conferred by any law to require or permit that officer
to retire from the public service:Provided that—
(a) nothing in this subsection shall be construed
as conferring on any person or authority the power to require a judge of the
Court of Appeal or a judge of the Supreme Court or the Director of Public
Prosecutions or the Director of Audit to retire from the public service; and

(b) any power conferred by any law to permit
a person to retire the public service shall, in the case of any public officer
who be removed from office by some person or authority other the Commission
established by this Constitution; vest in the Police Service Commission.
(8) Any provision in this Constitution that
vests in any person authority the power to remove any public officer from
his office be without prejudice to the power of any person or authority to
an any office or to any law providing for the compulsory retirement public
officers generally or any class of public officer on attain age specified
by or under that law.
(9) Where this Constitution vests in any
person or authority power to appoint any person to act in or to exercise the
function any office if the holder thereof is himself unable to exercise functions,
no such appointment shall be called in question on grounds that the holder
of the office was not unable to exercise functions.
(10) No provision of this Constitution that
any person or authority shall not be subject to the direction or control of
any other person or authority in the exercise of any functions under this
Constitution shall be construed as precluding a court from exercising jurisdiction
in relation to any question whether that person or authority has cised those
functions in accordance with this Constitution or any law.
(11) Where, under any provisions of this
Constitution, any person authority is authorised or required to exercise any
function consultation with some other person or authority, the person authority
first referred to shall not be required to act in accordance with the advice
of the other person or authority and the question whether such consultation
was made shall not be enquired into in court.
(12) Without prejudice to the provisions
of section 32(3)
 of Interpretation Act 1889 
(as applied by subsection (15) of section), where any power is conferred by
this Constitution to any order, regulation or rule or pass any resolution
or give direction or make any declaration or designation, the power shall
construed as including the power, exercisable in like manner subject to the
like conditions, if any, to amend to revoke any order, regulation, rule, resolution,
direction, declaration or design
(13) Any reference in this Constitution to
a law made before February 1965 shall, unless the context otherwise requires,
be strued as a reference to that law as it had effect on 17th February 1965.

(14) Any reference in this Constitution to
a law that amend replace any other law or any provision of any other law shall
construed as including a reference to a law that modifies, re-enacts, or without
amendment or modification, suspends, repeals, adds provisions to or makes
different provision in lieu of that other it that provision.
(15) The Interpretation
Act 1889 shall apply, with the necessary adaptations,
for the purpose of interpreting this Constitution otherwise in relation thereto
as it applies for the purpose of preting and in relation to Acts of the Parliament
of the United Kingdom.
THE SCHEDULE TO THE CONSTITUTION
Sections
37(9), 40(3), 
91, 96, 
103(10) and 105(11)
